The Michigan Supreme Court this morning cleared the way for a measure that would ban affirmative action to be placed on the November ballot, the Detroit Free Press reported today. The ballot measure, called by its supporters the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, would prevent all state agencies, including public colleges, from considering race or gender in hiring and admissions decisions.

The supporters—led by Ward Connerly, who has pushed similar measures through to adoption in California and Washington State—are reacting to U.S. Supreme Court rulings in 2003 that upheld limited forms of affirmative action at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (The Chronicle, July 4, 2003).

Opponents of the measure have taken various steps to keep it from even appearing on the ballot. In 2004 they unsuccessfully challenged the measure’s language as violating state law (The Chronicle, April 9, 2004). And since last year the opponents have challenged the signatures on the petition required to place the measure on the ballot (The Chronicle, January 7, 2005).

In today’s action, which was expected, the Michigan court refused to consider an appeal from the opponents and upheld an order by another court (The Chronicle, November 11, 2005) to put the measure on the ballot.