COURT TEST TO BEGIN FOR PROPOSITION 209.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Like the political campaign over Proposition 209, the federal court test that will start Monday depends on which side's definition of the measure will prevail. To the state, which is defending the newly passed initiative, its terms are simple and unassailable: equal treatment for all, special preferences for none. ``What the people have done in adopting (Proposition 209) was simply to prohibit discrimination for or against anyone in public contracting, employment or education, on the basis of race'' or gender, said Deputy Attorney General Paul Dobson Paul Dobson, of the brothers Dobson (himself, Michael, and Brian), is an accomplished Canadian voice actor, one of the many who work with Ocean Group, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. in court papers. Such a law, by definition, is not discriminatory dis·crim·i·na·to·ry adj. 1. Marked by or showing prejudice; biased. 2. Making distinctions. dis·crim and does not violate the constitutional command of equal protection of the laws Noun 1. equal protection of the laws - a right guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and by the due-process clause of the Fifth Amendment , he said. Civil rights groups trying to overturn Proposition 209 see it much differently: as a measure that, however neutral and benign its wording, has the sole effect of eliminating programs that benefit minorities and women. ``Discrimination against women and minorities is already illegal,'' attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights said. ``Accordingly, the only real impact of Proposition 209 is to eliminate affirmative-action programs designed to enhance gender, racial and ethnic integration. ``It is only minorities and women (who) are placed at a structural disadvantage by the initiative. Californians seeking any other kind of beneficial legislation . . . can continue to pursue their objectives through the ordinary political process.'' That argument failed at the polls. Despite surveys indicating considerable support for programs to remedy discrimination, sponsors of Proposition 209 persuaded voters that racial and gender preferences could be eliminated without sacrificing fairness. The two sides will be playing Monday to a different audience: Chief U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson Thelton Eugene Henderson (born 1933, Shreveport, Louisiana) is currently a federal judge in the Northern District of California. He has played an important role in advancing civil rights as a lawyer, educator, and jurist. , a former Justice Department civil rights lawyer whose record stamps him as one of the more liberal jurists The following lists are of prominent jurists, including judges, listed in alphabetical order by jurisdiction. See also list of lawyers. Antiquity
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