Judge Orders UC Not to Apply Prop. 209

A federal judge blocked the University of California on Friday from implementing Proposition 209, the November ballot measure that ended affirmative action in public education, employment and contracting.

Chief U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson added the university to a temporary restraining order that he granted last week preventing Gov. Pete Wilson and Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren from enforcing the law, which was approved by 54% of the voters.

Civil rights groups asked that the university be added to the order after UC officials said they would have to enforce the ballot measure in admissions and financial aid decisions that must be made before a Dec. 16 hearing on a preliminary injunction. If it is granted, that injunction would include the university.

In his ruling Friday, Henderson said the university is free to implement earlier Board of Regents decisions to phase out affirmative action, starting with 1998 admissions.

But he said the university may not move up abolition of affirmative action by enforcing Proposition 209 pending the hearing on a preliminary injunction, which would bar implementation until a trial, unless overturned on appeal.

Henderson noted that UC officials presented papers to the court that “all but concede” it is appropriate to include them in the temporary order. Otherwise, he said, individuals would be harmed by law that may later be overturned on constitutional grounds.

In last week’s order, Henderson cited a strong probability that civil rights groups would prevail in their challenge of the law.

These groups contend that the ballot measure violates equal protection guarantees in the U.S. Constitution by preventing women and minorities from obtaining government remedies for discrimination while allowing other groups, such as the elderly, disabled or veterans, to receive special consideration for their needs.

Lawyers for the state, however, say the ballot measure simply bans discrimination on the basis of race and gender.

Henderson’s earlier order had left the university in limbo. UC officials had expected to be included eventually in a court order but in the meantime some campuses must make decisions on spring admissions and financial aid for graduate students.

UC officials said they were not surprised that Henderson included them in the temporary restraining order. “Our desire is to see these issues resolved so people who are affected will have a clear sense of how things will proceed from now on,” said UC General Counsel James E. Holst.

UC lawyer Gary Morrison said the university was glad to have some guidance. “We need to know what the law is so we can proceed accordingly,” Morrison said.