Monday, January 6, 1997
By Tiffany Lauter
Daily Bruin Contributor
The U.S. District Court blocked enforcement of Proposition 209
on Dec. 23, preventing the University of California and state and
local governments from implementing the measure pending a final
ruling on its legality.
"The primary practical effect of Proposition 209 is to eliminate
existing governmental race and gender-conscious affirmative action
programs in contracting, education and employment and prohibit
their creation in the future," Chief U.S. District Judge Thelton
Henderson wrote in a 67-page ruling.
In accordance with the injunction, UC President Richard Atkinson
has confirmed that the University of California will consider race,
gender and ethnicity in their evaluations of the approximately
70,000 undergraduate applicants for admission and financial aid for
Fall 1997.
While University officials have decided to comply with the
injunction, they plan to implement their own UC-wide ban on
affirmative action, called SP-1, by fall of 1998. The UC Board of
Regents passed SP-1 in July 1995.
Regent Ward Connerly, a sponsor of Proposition 209, told the Los
Angeles Times that Henderson’s decision "will be recorded in the
history of American jurisprudence as one of the most perverse."
In his statement, Henderson commented on the statistical basis
for his decision, noting that without current affirmative action
efforts, "the number of African-American students enrolled could be
reduced by as much as 40 percent to 50 percent, while
Chicano/Latino enrollments could be reduced by five percent to 15
percent."
"It is not for this or any other court to lightly upset the
expectations of the voters," Henderson wrote, referring to the 54
percent of Californians who voted yes on the measure.
"At the same time, our system of democracy teaches that the will
of the people, important as it is, does not reign absolute, but
must be kept in harmony with our Constitution," he said.
White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said that President
Clinton will "defend the Constitution," meaning he will support
Judge Henderson’s decision over the election results.
He added that affirmative action must "remain available as a
tool to address persistent discrimination in our society."
The injunction was granted as a response to a lawsuit filed by
the American Civil Liberties Union the day after the proposition
passed. Henderson says there is a "strong probability" that he will
find the measure unconstitutional.
State officials are eagerly awaiting a ruling on the injunction
from a higher California state court this month, with hopes that
the U.S. Supreme Court can review it within two years. Attorneys on
both sides forecast a lengthy legal battle.
Nearly all recent Supreme Court rulings limiting affirmative
action have come on 5-4 votes. Legal analysts speculate that the
delay in this injunction going to the Supreme Court could work in
favor of proponents of Proposition 209 if Clinton is given the
opportunity to fill a space vacated by a member of the conservative
majority.
While Proposition 209 is being battled out in the court system,
UC Regents are moving forward with their initial plans of
implementing SP-1 in 1998.
However, Atkinson emphasizes that in the immediate future, UC
admissions will be unaffected by these proceedings. In a recent
letter to campus chancellors advising them to keep in place current
admissions criteria, he forecasted that the process of student
selection for 1997 will be finished before there is any ruling on
the legality of Proposition 209.