Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC

Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC, 497 U.S. 547 (1990), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that held that intermediate scrutiny should be applied to equal protection challenges to federal statutes using benign racial classifications for a non-remedial purpose.^[1] The Court distinguished the previous year's decision City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co.,^[2] by noting that it applied only to actions by state and local governments.^[3] Metro Broadcasting was overruled by Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña, which held that strict scrutiny should be applied to federal laws that use benign racial classifications.^[4] This opinion was the last authored by William J. Brennan Jr., the longtime leader of the Court's liberal wing.^[5]

Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 28, 1990 Decided June 27, 1990
Full case name	Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. Federal Co
Citations	497 U.S. 547 (more) 110 S. Ct. 2997; 111 L. Ed. 2d 445
Case history
Prior	Winter Park Communications, Inc. v. FCC, 873 F.2d 347 (D.C. Cir. 1989), affirmed and remanded; Shurberg Broadcasting of Hartford, Inc. v. FCC, 876 F.2d 902 (D.C. Cir. 1989), reversed and remanded.
Holding
The FCC policies do not violate equal protection since they bear the imprimatur of longstanding congressional support and direction and are substantially related to the achievement of the important governmental objective of broadcast diversity.
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
Case opinions
Majority	Brennan, joined by White, Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens
Concurrence	Stevens
Dissent	O'Connor, joined by Rehnquist, Scalia, Kennedy
Dissent	Kennedy, joined by Scalia
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV
Overruled by
Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña, 515 U.S. 200 (1995)

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 497
• Fullilove v. Klutznick