Carter Administration - Carter and the Judiciary
Carter and the Judiciary
In 1978, faced with a huge backlog of cases in the federal courts, Congress passed a law creating 152 new federal judgeships—117 on the district court and 35 on the circuit courts of appeal. It was the greatest expansion of the federal judiciary in the nation's history. Carter filled these new posts and other federal judicial vacancies with more women, African Americans, and Hispanic Americans than any previous president. Carter made no Supreme Court appointments.
Perhaps the most important Supreme Court decision made during the Carter presidency was the 1978 Bakke
v. Board of Regents of California case. Allan Bakke, a white man, was rejected twice for admission to the University of California at Davis medical school, despite the fact that he was more qualified than some minority students who were admitted. He sued the university, claiming that the racial quota reserving 16 of 100 places...
[The entire page is 237 words long]
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