The Ninth Circuit Court upheld California’s law prohibiting racial preferences in college admissions. The law was passed via ballot initiative in 1996. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education:
The court, which upheld Proposition 209 when it was originally challenged, in 1997, ruled that a subsequent Supreme Court decision allowing the limited use of affirmative action did not now render the ban unconstitutional—the argument made by the plaintiffs in the case, led by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary.
Several states, including Michigan and Arizona, have approved ballot initiatives similar to California’s. Michigan’s affirmative action ban, which passed in 2006, was struck down by a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit court last summer. The judges ruled that Michigan’s law unconstitutionally altered the legal environment in a manner harmful to racial minorities. The full Sixth Circuit court is now re-hearing the case, and if it affirms the panel’s decision, the Sixth Circuit and Ninth Circuit will have issued contradictory opinions, setting the stage for a likely Supreme Court showdown.
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