United States Fourth Circuit

In a contractor's suit challenging a North Carolina statute that requires prime contractors to engage in good faith efforts to satisfy participation goals for minority and women subcontractors on state-funded construction projects, district court's judgment that the statutory scheme is constitutional both on its face and as applied is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded where: 1) the State has met its burden of producing a strong basis in evidence for its conclusion that minority participation goals were necessary to remedy discrimination against African American and Native American (but not Asian American or Hispanic American) subcontractors; 2) the statutory scheme is narrowly tailored to achieve the State's compelling interest in remedying discrimination in public-sector subcontracting against African American and Native American subcontractors; but 3) the State has failed to justify its application of the statutory scheme to women.

Appellate Information

• Argued 03/24/2010
• Decided 07/22/2010
• Published 07/22/2010

Judges

• MOTZ

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Ralph William Kasarda, Jr., Christopher Grafflin Browning, Jr.