The End of Affirmative Action? State Amendments That Ban Race, Gender Preferences Face Court Challenges

Many thanks to Mark Hemingway at the Weekly Standard for his consideration and guidance.

Opponents of state ballot initiatives that outlaw race and gender based affirmative action programs have vowed to take their fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ward Connerly, the former University of California Regent who was the galvanizing influence behind Proposition 209, which amended that state’s constitution to prohibit preferential policies, would welcome that challenge.

On July 1, a three-judge panel on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the anti-discriminatory language included as part of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) actually violated the amendment’s equal protection clause and must therefore be overturned. Like Proposition 209, MCRI is built around a state constitutional amendment that prohibits preferential policies.

It reads as follows:

The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.

Full Report Is Available at The Weekly Standard

By Kevin Mooney in Featured Articles, Kevin's Blog on October 11, 2011