Calls on Federal, State, and Local Governments to Enact Similar Bans on Preferences
4/22/14- (Falls Church, VA) The Supreme Court today upheld the right of states and local governments to ban preferential treatment on the basis of race, ethnicity, and sex.
The chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity, Linda Chavez, praised the Court’s action: “This is a welcome decision, and in fact any other outcome would be been ridiculous. The Center for Equal Opportunity hopes that all states will join Michigan and the other states that have already banned preferences and discrimination – and that Congress will do so as well.”
CEO president and general counsel Roger Clegg added: “Where ballot initiatives are not available, state legislatures should act; where state legislatures won’t act, then action should be taken at the local level.”
Clegg noted that he recently coauthored a paper published by the Heritage Foundation that discusses such legislation. That paper can be found here: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/02/what-states-can-do-to-stop-racial-discrimination
CEO studies helped lead to the passage of Michigan’s Proposal 2, which the Court upheld today; those studies were released just prior to the vote, and documented the heavy weight given to racial and ethnic preferences in admissions to the University of Michigan.
The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization that studies issues relating to race and ethnicity nationwide.
–30–
7700 Leesburg Pike, Suite 231 • Falls Church, VA 22043 • (703) 442-0066 • www.ceousa.org