The U.S. Supreme Court case Wygant et al. v. Jackson Board of Education et al., 1985, dealt with the issue of affirmative action in public schools and whether it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Jackson Board of Education had implemented a policy that protected minority employees from layoffs by laying off non-minority teachers first, regardless of seniority or tenure status. This was done to maintain racial balance among faculty members as part of an agreement between the board and local teacher's union to address past discriminatory practices against minorities in hiring decisions. However, several non-minority teachers who were laid off sued on grounds that this policy discriminated against them based on race, thus violating their constitutional rights under equal protection laws. In a split decision (5-4), the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Wygant and other plaintiffs stating that while remedying past discrimination is indeed a compelling state interest justifying use of racial classifications; however, such measures must be narrowly tailored which wasn't evident here because protecting minority workers from layoffs went beyond simply correcting statistical imbalances.

In the dissenting opinion for WYGANT et al. v. JACKSON BOARD OF EDUCATION et al., Justice Marshall, joined by Justices Brennan and Blackmun, argued that the Court's majority decision failed to recognize the societal impact of racial discrimination in America and its long-lasting effects on minority communities. They contended that affirmative action policies like those used by Jackson Board of Education were necessary tools to rectify past injustices and promote diversity within public institutions such as schools. The dissenters believed that these measures did not violate equal protection principles but instead served a compelling state interest in remedying systemic racial bias. They criticized the majority's view as overly narrow and restrictive, arguing it undermined efforts towards achieving true equality.