California Court of Appeal

A decision striking down a San Francisco ordinance calling for race- and gender-conscious remedies to ameliorate the effects of past discrimination in public contracting is affirmed in part where: 1) a state constitutional amendment adopted via the California Civil Rights Initiative is not preempted by a human rights treaty ratified by Congress; 2) it also does not offend the Hunter/Seattle political restructuring arm of equal protection jurisprudence; and 3) the ordinance is not required to maintain the City-s eligibility for federal funds. However, the matter is remanded for further proceedings where the trial court failed to adjudicate the question of whether the ordinance is mandated by the federal Constitution as a narrowly tailored remedial program to remedy ongoing, pervasive discrimination in public contracting.

Appellate Information

• Decided 04/18/2007
• Published 04/18/2007

Judges

• REARDON, Acting P.J.

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Dennis J. Herrera, City Attorney, Wayne K. Snodgrass, Sherri Sokeland Kaiser, James M. Emery, Deputy City Attorneys, Moscone, Emblidge & Quadra LLP, G. Scott Emblidge, Rachel J. Sater, San Francisco, Meyers, Nave, Riback, Silver & Wilson, Mara E. Rosales, Joseph M. Quinn, San Francisco, K. Scott Dickey, for Appellants., Bingham McCutchen LLP, Michael Isaku Begert, Sujal J. Shah, Rianne E. Nolan, Renee M. DuPree, Nancy M. Wang, Elizabeth M. Hall, San Francisco, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, Oren Sellstrom, Woodland, for Amicus Curiae on Behalf of Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Pacific Legal Foundation, John H. Findley, Sharon L. Browne, Paul J. Beard II, Sacramento, Counsel for Respondents.