DeFunis v. Odegaard

416 U.S. 312

Case Year: 1974

Case Ruling: 5-4, Vacated and Remanded

Opinion Justice: Blackmun

FACTS

In general, the Court will not decide cases in which the controversy is no longer live by the time it reaches the Court's doorstep. DeFunis v. Odegaard (1974) provides an example. Rejected for admission to the University of Washington Law School, Marco DeFunis Jr. brought suit against the school, alleging that it had engaged in reverse discrimination because it had denied him a place, but had accepted statistically less qualified minority students. In 1971 a trial court found merit in his claim and ordered that the university admit him. While DeFunis was in his second year of law school, the state's high court reversed the trial judge's ruling. He then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. By that time, DeFunis had registered for his final quarter in school.