Supreme Court Ruling Jeopardizes Hope To Overturn Affirmative Action Ban At California Public Universities
BERKELEY (KCBS)— The effort to overturn California's ban on affirmative action at state public universities suffered a severe blow with a Supreme Court decision announced on Tuesday.
The high court upheld a similar ban passed by Michigan voters eight years ago that prohibits the consideration of race in admission to state-funded universities.
Activists and attorneys scheduled a news conference at Sproul Plaza on UC Berkeley's campus for 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
Dr. Stephen Woolpert, a professor of politics at St. Mary's College said the Michigan case ruling has major implications for California's Proposition 209, passed by voters in 1996, which forbids consideration of race in university admissions.
"It means that anyone who thought that California's ban on affirmative action might be subject to challenge can no longer hold out that hope. It is clear now that Michigan and California will still have the bans that have reduced black and Hispanic enrollments at their top universities,"
Now to move forward with the effort to overturn the law, Prop. 209 opponents would likely need to have it repealed by voters. However a bill that would move that effort ahead was halted last month in the assembly after concerns were raised that an appeal could put other student groups, like Asian-Americans, at a disadvantage in the admissions process.