Fla. Court Rejects Measures Against Affirmative Action

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a series of proposed constitutional amendments that would have prohibited affirmative action in public education, employment and purchasing in the nation’s fourth most populous state.

Calling them misleading and overly broad, the state’s highest court rejected four proposed constitutional amendments offered by the Florida Civil Rights Initiative to ban preferential treatment based on race, color, ethnicity or national origin.

Led by Ward Connerly, the black University of California regent who successfully mounted a similar anti-affirmative action campaign in California, the group has been collecting signatures to put the issue before Florida voters in November 2002.

Thursday’s ruling came a day after a Florida administrative judge upheld a plan by Gov. Jeb Bush to end traditional racial preferences in college admissions. Bush, the brother of Republican presidential hopeful George W. Bush, has opposed Connerly’s efforts.

The state Supreme Court said in a unanimous ruling that the proposed amendments were too sweeping and would prevent state officials from protecting citizens against discrimination, a role required under Florida’s constitution.

“These limitations on the courts’ powers are significant in that they operate to redefine the remedial role of courts in equal protection cases,” the justices wrote in a group opinion. “As a result courts will be closed, not open, to victims of discrimination who seek redress for their injuries.”

Connerly, in a statement issued by his Florida colleagues, criticized the court’s ruling.

“This ballot review process has been a disgraceful display by an overreaching court that quashed a clear and simple proposition to end preferences,” Connerly said.

Under Florida law, the state Supreme Court must review all proposed constitutional amendments to ensure they deal with only a single subject and that the wording is not misleading to voters. The court ruled that Connerly’s proposed amendments failed on both counts.

Herb Harmon, a spokesman for the Florida initiative group, said his organization would not abandon the effort to ban racial and ethnic preferences.

“This is just the first battle,” Harmon said. “We’re in this for the long haul.”