Last week, the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) sent a cease and desist letter to the city of Omaha requesting that it repeal sections of its municipal code that give race- and sex-based preferences in the awarding of public contracts.
In response, city attorney Paul Kratz said Omaha suspended the contracting rules after the November election, and the city is drafting a new ordinance. (Source)
Under the city’s previous contracting compliance ordinance, businesses owned or operated by members of certain racial or ethnic groups were automatically designated “disadvantaged” and therefore subject to preferential treatment. Omaha allowed female- and minority-owned businesses to submit bids 30 days before other businesses and required 10 percent of the city’s contracting dollars to be awarded to such businesses.
Last November, 58 percent of Nebraska voters chose to bar their state from discriminating against or giving preferences in hiring, contracting, and admissions based on factors like race and sex. A group challenged the law in court earlier this year, but a judge upheld it.
The Omaha World Herald reports that the legislature passed a bill to change Nebraska’s “diversity” scholarship program to comply with the law barring the state from discriminating against or preferring individuals on the basis of race in hiring, contracting, and admissions. But the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative’s Marc Schniederjans says the law requires nothing less than ending such programs rather than changing them.
Legislative Bill 440 merely would remove the words “racial, ethnic and cultural diversity” and retain the word “diversity.” Any reasonable person who has followed the issues knows that “diversity” used in this context is another way of referring to race preferences in general and to blacks specifically. If the scholarship program gives preferences to anyone based on race or sex, it is illegal and must be suspended.
On November 4, 2008, 58 percent of Nebraska voters chose YES on Initiative 424. A group challenged the law in court earlier this year, but a judge upheld it.
Nebraskans United, a group that opposes a law barring state and local governments from preferring and discriminating against individuals based on race in hiring, contracting, and admissions, will not appeal a recent ruling upholding the law. (Source)
Last week, Judge Karen Flowers upheld the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative and wrote that the facts didn’t present any evidence of fraud, as the group claimed. On November 4, 2008, the initiative won by 58 percent of the vote.
On November 4, 2008, 58 percent of Nebraska voters barred their state and local governments from preferring and discriminating against individuals based on race in hiring, contracting, and admissions.
After the governor certified the results, Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative executive director Doug Tietz said, “The voters overwhelmingly supported the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative and now Nebraska’s state motto ‘equality before the law’ is officially the law of the land.”
As expected, the new law was challenged in court. Last week, a Nebraska court upheld the ban. Ruling against a group called Nebraskans United, Judge Karen Flowers wrote that the facts didn’t present any evidence of fraud, as the group claimed. (Source)
“The most common phrase in the judge’s ruling is, ‘there is no evidence,’” Tietz said. “It is time for the opposition to put to rest their baseless allegations and acknowledge the people’s decision to end race and gender preferences in public contracting, public education, and public hiring”
Will Nebraskans United end up appealing Judge Flowers’s ruling? Most likely. They probably won’t prevail, since the lower court found no evidence of fraud, but that won’t stop groups from trying to overturn the vote.
Protecting and upholding the will of the people is no small task, is it?
Last week, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman certified the results of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative (NeCRI) and officially enshrined the language of the initiative in the state constitution.
NeCRI executive director Doug Tietz said, “The voters overwhelmingly supported the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative and now Nebraska’s state motto ‘equality before the law’ is officially the law of the land.”
On November 4th, Initiative 424 passed with over 58 percent of the vote.
The American Civil Rights Institute’s (ACRI) Jennifer Gratz, plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, Gratz v. Bollinger, defends Ward Connerly as pro-race preference proponents attack his character, because they cannot win on the merits.
(Their concern is well-grounded. ACRI found that 71 percent of Nebraskans say they support an amendment that would end government preferences in hiring, contracting, and admissions.)
The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) is one organization resorting to ad hominem, with BISC’s Kristina Wilfore leading the charge. Gratz says such groups have all but given up defending race preferences and instead focus on personal attacks. While ACRI has chosen to ignore such attacks in the past, the organization decided to come forward because “the public needs to understand what we are up against and the despicable tactics that these groups will use…”
Both sides should focus on debating the issue of government preferences rather than attacking those involved in the debate. Gratz is right. The other side is becoming increasingly desperate and disingenuous.
A group called Nebraskans United filed suit against the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative (NECRI), certified to appear on the November ballot, challenging some 40,228 signatures. The trial began today. (Source)
NECRI would bar the state and local governments from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any individual or group based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education and public contracting.
During the three-day trial, both sides will present arguments for and against their respective positions. Nebraskans United will argue that NECRI committed fraud in signature gathering, while NECRI maintains the position that no fraud was committed.
The views and opinions expressed on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the American Civil Rights Institute. This blog is written and maintained by La Shawn Barber. E-mail her at lashawnbarber@gmail.com
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On November 4, 2008, 58 percent of Nebraska voters barred their state and local governments from preferring and discriminating against individuals based on race in hiring, contracting, and admissions.
