Court upholds Proposition 209

A federal appeals court voted to uphold California's controversial Proposition 209 -- which outlawed racial and gender-based preferences in public institutions -- shielding a similar ban in the University of California system from being overturned. A panel of three judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the the measure does not violate the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964. Judges Diarmuid O'Scannlain and Edward Levy of Portland, Ore., and Judge Andrew Kleinfield of Fairbanks, Alaska, overturned Judge Thelton Henderson's December injunction against implementing the proposition. Before the ruling, UC Regents opposed to the system's ban on affirmative action had said that if 209 were overturned, they would try to reverse the UC policy as well. UC President Richard Atkinson issued a statement after the ruling explaining that it would have no effect on the UC system, since the eight UC schools have already implemented an affirmative action ban. But UC Regent Ward Connerly -- who spearheaded the system's affirmative action ban -- said the ruling will ensure that such preferences will not be reinstated. "I think this is a glorious day for the people of California," Connerly said in a written release. "This decision reaffirms the proposition that all Americans should be treated equally and should not be getting special considerations." Many civil rights groups, however, expressed anger at the ruling. Mark Rosenbaum, legal director for the Southern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, described the decision as a "grave disappointment." "The court's ruling is obviously and dramatically incompatible with decades of mainstream Supreme Court decisions guaranteeing women and minorities equal participation in the political process and equal opportunities in education, employment and contracting," he said. Rosenbaum said the ACLU will ask for a rehearing of the decision within the next two weeks. Eleven judges from the Ninth Circuit will then hear the case, and the losing side will be able to appeal the decision to the United States Supreme Court --Ewhere many legal experts think the case will ultimately be decided. But California Attorney General Dan Lungren stressed that the decision is not likely to be overturned. "Even though we expected this matter ultimately to be decided by the Supreme Court, today's ruling should lead to the implementation of Proposition 209," he said in a written statement. Several people at UC expressed concern that the ruling will deter black and Latino students from applying to schools in the system. "[Upholding the affirmative action ban] strengthens the perception that is in effect presently, that underrepresented minorities are not wanted by the university and feel estranged by our state," Regent Richard Russell said. And Chris Scanlan, a first-year law student at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, said the decision will reduce the diversity which attracts students to Berkeley. "There were plenty of white students who came here because of the diversity, like me," he added.