This study examines the United States Supreme Court's use of social science research in Fourteenth Amendment race-based discrimination cases in professional and graduate school admissions. It discusses how the Court uses (or does not use) social science research in its interpretation of "equal protection" and "discrimination"…

The first two court approved desegregation cases involving graduate and professional public schools during 1935-1940 are discussed. These cases demonstrate a shift in emphasis from segregated to desegregated public graduate and professional schools. The court invoked the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in both Maryland and…