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The Justice Department has accused UCLA’s law school of illegally discriminating against white and Asian applicants, the latest in a string of federal actions against the University of California system.

Getting into it: In an eight-page letter, the department’s Civil Rights Division said UCLA Law turned down white and Asian applicants while letting in Black and Hispanic applicants with identical LSAT scores for its 2023, 2024 and 2025 classes, violating the Civil Rights Act and the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling banning race-based admissions. The department claims the school leaned on personal statements and essay prompts to figure out applicants’ race, and that admissions staff showed prospective students where in the application to mention their race at recruitment events like its annual “Diversity Admissions Open House.”

It also said Black applicants to the 2025 class were roughly seven times more likely to get in than white applicants with similar credentials. The department is seeking a voluntary agreement and says it will sue if the school doesn’t comply. California has banned affirmative action at public universities since 1996.

“Like many of its peer institutions, UCLA Law School runs a two-tiered admissions system whose academic bar for acceptance shifts up or down depending on the color of your skin,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.

UCLA Law said it follows all applicable laws and admits students through “a comprehensive, merit-based review process that considers each applicant’s achievements and experiences,” adding, “We are confident in our process.” The Justice Department has made similar accusations this year against UCLA’s medical school, UC Berkeley’s law school and the medical schools at UC Davis, UC San Diego and UC San Francisco, all of which deny the claims.

The finding came a day after the University of California went to a federal judge to get a separate Justice Department lawsuit tossed, one that accuses UCLA of ignoring antisemitic harassment during the 2024 campus protests and seeks to claw back more than $2 billion in research grants.