A federal civil rights investigation into UC Berkeley Law School has uncovered alleged discrimination against white and Asian applicants, the Department of Justice announced on Sept. 9.
DOJ Announces Civil Rights Probe into Berkeley Law Admissions
The DOJ and the Department of Education’s probe found that the school’s admissions criteria used race, essay prompts and other tactics to pursue diversity goals, violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to the DOJ statement.
Federal investigators said the practices also breach the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which held that race‑based admissions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the DOJ Civil Rights Division, called the alleged conduct “a complete disregard for the rule of law.”
The department offered to work with Berkeley Law to bring its admissions process into compliance, warning that failure to do so could trigger a lawsuit.
Data released by the DOJ showed that half of the law school’s admitted Black applicants in 2024 and 2025 scored below 95 percent of the white applicants’ test scores, and more than one‑third fell below 99 percent of white applicants’ scores.
Black applicants enjoyed nearly six times the admission chances of comparable white applicants last year, the DOJ analysis found.
Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky denied the findings, stating the school complies with California’s Proposition 209, federal statutes and the Supreme Court decision that permits diversity efforts without racial preferences.
“Our admissions policy scrupulously avoids any consideration of race,” Chemerinsky said in a statement provided to The Epoch Times.
UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof pledged to “spare no effort” to demonstrate compliance, noting the university has adhered to Proposition 209 since its 1996 passage.
The investigation, launched in March 2025, also uncovered alleged use of essay questions to solicit race information, asking applicants how they would “contribute diversity” and which racial identity they primarily identified with.
Because the school receives federal funding, the DOJ said it is obligated to notify the university of non‑compliance and seek a voluntary resolution.
If Berkeley Law does not voluntarily adjust its practices, the Justice Department will file a civil rights lawsuit to enforce compliance, Dhillon warned.
The DOJ concluded that the alleged discrimination is ongoing and that the school must change its admissions procedures to meet legal standards.
