From the SF Chron.:
The 1996 ballot measure that outlawed preferential treatment for women and minorities in government programs is unconstitutional because it prohibits all affirmative action and fosters the discrimination it was supposed to eliminate, Attorney General Jerry Brown told the state Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Brown’s opinion, which the court requested in considering a lawsuit that two white-owned contractors brought against San Francisco, could reopen the legal debate on Proposition 209. A federal appeals court upheld the measure in 1997, but the state’s high court has never ruled on its validity.
It could also become an issue in Brown’s expected campaign next year for the Democratic nomination for governor. Although Prop. 209 was approved by 54 percent of the voters, Brown’s position might help him in his party’s primary.
Turtle Talk 