Law for Business 10th Edition by James Barnes,Terry Dworkin,Eric Richards

Exercise 6

California voters adopted an initiative that amended their state constitution. The amendment provides: " The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting. " This amendment was challenged as imposing an unequal political structure that denies women and minorities a right to seek preferential treatment from the state and local governments. This was claimed to violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits race and gender discrimination. Does the state constitutional provision violate the U.S. Constitution?