California’s Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Affirmative-Action Preferences

The California Supreme Court today upheld that state’s Proposition 209 ban on affirmative-action preferences in a case involving public contracting by the city of San Francisco, the Mercury News has reported. The measure, passed in 1996, amended California’s constitution to bar public colleges and other state and local agencies from granting preferences based on race, ethnicity, or gender in education, employment, and contracting. In today’s 6-to-1 ruling, the state’s highest court rejected San Francisco’s argument that Proposition 209 violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause because it creates barriers for minority and female contractors that are not faced by other constituencies seeking favored treatment. Opponents of Proposition 209 said today’s decision was not a complete loss for them, however, because it left open the possibility that San Francisco can show its preferential contracting program is necessary to remedy discrimination. A separate challenge to Proposition 209, focused on prohibition against preferences in public-college admissions, remains pending in federal court.