5th Anniversary of 209's Passage; A.G. Gets Failing Grade for Prop. 209 Enforcement; PLF Calls for End to Racially Divisive Programs.

News Editors & Legal Writers

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 2001

On the fifth anniversary of Proposition 209's passage, Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys and the initiative's chief proponent, Ward Connerly, today delivered a report card to the office of California's Attorney General Bill Lockyer, giving the state's chief legal officer an "F" for failure to enforce the law and undermining the will of the voters.

"Today, five years after the people of California made Proposition 209 a part of the state Constitution, we say to Mr. Lockyer: `End the roadblocks and foot dragging. Quit profiling job applicants by race and denigrating the value of individual merit and achievement.' It is time to rid our state of government-sponsored discrimination as the voters intended when they passed the California Civil Rights Initiative," said PLF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Anthony T. Caso.

PLF Acts as Private Attorney General

Pacific Legal Foundation has been acting as a "private attorney general" in litigating enforcement actions against government entities that are violating the provisions of Proposition 209. Currently, PLF has seven such cases in active litigation. In two previous cases, one against a city and a second against the state itself, PLF argued against the Attorney General, who defended preference-based programs in government that the courts said violate the law.

In the first of those cases, Hi-Voltage Wire Works, Inc. v. City of San Jose, the Attorney General personally argued in favor of San Jose's race-based preferences in public contracting. The California Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision finding San Jose's so-called "outreach" program in violation of the law.

In the second case, Connerly v. SPB, the Third District Court of Appeal ruled that a number of state statutes promoting race-based preferences were unlawful. These statutes promoted "goals and timetables" for community college and state civil service hiring, and race-based preferences in contracts let by the State Treasurer and Lottery.

Attorney General AWOL on Enforcement

"The Attorney General has been AWOL when it comes to enforcing Proposition 209," said PLF's Sharon L. Browne, who successfully argued Hi-Voltage before the state Supreme Court.

"Our nonprofit legal foundation is now doing the job that the people elected the Attorney General to do and that he swore he would do."

Local Jurisdictions Out of Compliance

"PLF is aware of a number of local jurisdictions around the state that continue to discriminate in blatant violation of Proposition 209. Among the worst offenders are the City and County of San Francisco and Los Angeles County," said Browne.

Through a number of sources, including its own End Bias Whistle Blower Hotline, PLF has alleged that the following entities are among those that have failed to comply with Proposition 209:

-- City and County of San Francisco

-- Sacramento Municipal Utility District

-- Huntington Beach Union High School District

-- Pasadena Unified School District

-- Los Angeles Unified School District

-- Regents of the University of California

-- East Bay Municipal Utility District

-- Berkeley Unified School District

-- Long Beach Unified School District

-- U.C. Berkeley

-- City of Long Beach

-- City of Berkeley

-- Los Angeles County

-- City of Los Angeles Harbor Department

(Specific details about violations in each jurisdiction can be found at www.endbias.org by clicking on the "cases" button.)

A.G./State Agencies Have Failed to Comply

In addition to local government agencies failing to adhere to the state Constitution, PLF is also aware that a number of state agencies have failed to comply with Proposition 209. According to documents obtained by PLF through the Public Records Act after the California Supreme Court's ruling in Hi-Voltage, the Attorney General himself used and touted race-based preferences in his department's hiring. Furthermore, "affirmative action" procedures in the California Department of Justice are monitored at taxpayer expense by the Attorney General's own staff. A review of state agency web sites indicates that prior to the decision in Connerly, 46 agencies, including the Department of Justice, used race- and gender-based goals and timetables in civil service hiring.

In the wake of the Connerly decision, PLF requested follow-up documentation from these agencies and last week sent a specific request to the Department of Justice to ensure that the Attorney General has rescinded all policies and directives related to race- and gender-based hiring directives.

University of California Policies Also Under Fire

The University of California is now considering changes to admissions policies that critics, including Pacific Legal Foundation, believe would undermine the intent of Proposition 209. According to media reports, the proposed U.C. admissions policies are considered by many to be a backdoor attempt to boost minority enrollment in the post-Proposition 209 era at the expense of objective, academically based entrance criteria.

"Five years after Proposition 209 was passed, we still have officials in Sacramento and at the U.C. plotting to go around it to artificially inflate the numbers of some racial groups at the expense of uniform high standards and individual merit," said Ward Connerly, the chief proponent of Proposition 209.

Call for Action

"We are here to remind the Attorney General of the Oath of Office he took to enforce all of the California Constitution -- not just the provisions he likes. Now that government profiling of job applicants based on race has been declared unlawful, as the state's chief legal and law enforcement officer, he should use the power and prestige of his office to gain the compliance of Los Angeles County and other local jurisdictions that are currently flouting the law," said Caso.

"In a letter we are delivering to him this morning, we are urging the Attorney General to bring about local government compliance," added Caso.

Operation End Bias

Pacific Legal Foundation operates a whistle blower hotline that accepts complaints about Proposition 209 violations. To date, the End Bias program has received nearly 100 reports of illegal conduct. Individuals who have knowledge of prohibited race-based practices and policies are asked to call 1-866-ENDBIAS or log onto www.endbias.org to report unlawful discrimination banned by Proposition 209.

Proposition 209 Summary

Enacted by the voters in 1996, Proposition 209 amended the state Constitution to prohibit discrimination and preferences on the basis of race and sex in public contracting, public employment and public education.

Pacific Legal Foundation

Founded in 1973, Pacific Legal Foundation is, in the words of the Washington Post, the "oldest, largest and perhaps most influential" public interest law firm dedicated to limited government and individual rights.