The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.17           April 28, 1997 
 
 
California Court Upholds Proposition 209  

BY HILDA CUZCO
A federal court in California has upheld the cynically named California Civil Rights Initiative, better known as Proposition 209, which was adopted in a state ballot referendum last November. The measure bans affirmative action programs in public hiring and education. Campaigners for Proposition 209 use the terms of "racial quotas" and "racial preferences," when referring to affirmative action, to try to give the reactionary measure a progressive veneer.

The April 8 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered the lifting of an injunction that had halted implementation of Proposition 209. The injunction was issued by Judge Thelton Henderson last December.

The three-judge Court of Appeals panel declared the measure was indeed constitutional, as it supposedly bars the government from discrimination based on race or gender. "Proposition 209 does not violate the U.S. Constitution," opined Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain. "It is one thing to say that individuals have equal protection rights against political obstructions to equal treatment. It is quite another to say that individuals have equal protection rights against political obstructions to preferential treatment."

Ward Connerly, a black businessman and member of the University of California Board of Regents who led the campaign for the proposition to end affirmative action, was pleased with the ruling. "The decision puts a little spine in those states that have been wondering if they should enter the arena," said Connerly.

Campaigns for similar anti-affirmative action measures are under way in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington. In addition, Republican representative from Florida Charles Canady has said he will sponsor a bill in the U.S. Congress in a few weeks that would roll back federal affirmative action programs.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home