Lying To Make Friends

Weirdly enough, a new challenge to Proposition 209 is underway in federal court.  Prop two-oh-what, you say?  Yes, Ward Connerly’s hilarious parody “civil rights” initiative of 1996, which prohibited public institutions in California from considering race, sex, and ethnicity EVER (except when they do, constantly), is being called unconstitutional.  It’s like some law student was watching I Love The 90s, discovered this proposition, and decided to bring back the anti-209 legal challenge like they brought back Beverly Hills 90210.

The official explanation for bringing the case now, more than 10 years after the Ninth Circuit upheld the law and the Supreme Court took a pass, is that “the legal environment has changed” considering the result in Grutter v. Bollinger.  But seriously, that case was decided in 2003!  That was even before Roberts and Alito happened to us!  Back then, we didn’t even know it was possible to put two different flavors of Doritos in one bag!  (Never forget.)

Anyway, I predict doom and gloom for this legal challenge.  The advantage of the time that’s passed is that the plaintiffs can make out a better claim of disparate impact by showing the dismal state of minority enrollment at UC schools (I’m a two-time UCLA student post-Prop 209, and I can attest: dismal).  Unfortunately, disparate impact apparently no longer exists in Supreme Court jurisprudence (see that firefighters case), and taking a stand based on Grutter is like what the Coyote would do right before he realized he had chased the Road Runner a little bit past the cliff’s edge.  That case was a challenge by a white student miffed at affirmative action in admissions (aka Ward Connerly’s protege), not the other way around, and the admissions policy there was upheld on narrow grounds that had nothing to do with a historical understanding of race-based subordination.  No way does will that case be applied to overturn a voter referendum that has been in place since the time when Garth Brooks was cool.

By the way, one of the attorneys for the group bringing the challenge is named George Washington.  (I bet he gets a lot of “crossing the Potomac” jokes.)

But best of luck to you, George Washington & Co.  Hopefully you make it in spite of the odds.

-AS