State affirmative action ban upheld by federal court

_This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts._ California’s ban on using race or gender as a factor in

college admissions survived another legal challenge Monday when a federal appeals court upheld the law passed by state voters more than 15 years ago. Plaintiffs argued that the ban, approved

by California voters as Proposition 209 in 1996, “causes the unfair exclusion of African American, Latino and Native American students from higher education,” according to court filings.

Monday’s decision rejected those claims, upholding a lower court ruling that found the state’s ban on using race, ethnicity or gender as a factor in admissions to be legal. Ward Connerly,

sponsor of Proposition 209, welcomed the decision in an interview Monday. “I’m pleased, but not surprised,” Connerly said Monday. “The country is clearly going to have to move in the

direction of treating everybody fairly.” Connerly has also helped pass similar bans in Washington state, Michigan, Arizona and Nebraska. This fall, voters in Oklahoma will also weigh in on

whether to ban affirmative action. But it may be a moot point by then. In October, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule on whether race-based affirmative action programs are legal. RELATED:

Affirmative action ban not unconstitutional Civil rights, student groups target Prop. 209 Federal suit planned against UC over ban on affirmative action --Anthony York in Sacramento