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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Prop. 209 Already Challenged Anti-Affirmative Action Law, Passed By Whites, Faces Lawsuit

San Francisco Examiner

Even as voters made California the first state to mount a sweeping assault on affirmative action, opponents of Proposition 209 were headed to court Wednesday to try to block the law.

As with anti-illegal immigrant Proposition 187 two years ago, white voters fueled a 55-45 percent victory for the constitutional amendment ending race- and gender-based anti-discrimination programs in state, county and city hiring, contracting and school admissions.

The vote rode a deep racial divide, according to an Examiner/Voter News Service exit poll. VNS is a cooperative arrangement of ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, NBC News and the Associated Press. Whites voted for Prop. 209, blacks and Latinos voted against, while Asian Americans voters were split.

Only San Francisco and six other counties - Alameda, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles - voted against the proposition.

It went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. But a coalition of civil rights attorneys planned to file at least one federal court lawsuit challenging the law as unconstitutional on Wednesday, said Eva Paterson, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco.

She would not say where the suit would be filed or on what legal grounds. The ACLU, the Lawyers’ Committee, the California Labor Federation and others planned a morning press conference in San Francisco to talk about the suit, which would seek to keep the law from being enforced.

Proponents, opponents and San Francisco City Attorney Louise Renne predicted an onslaught of lawsuits - both pro and con. Some will attempt to block the law; others will attempt to force cities, counties, school systems and colleges to comply with it. Much of the legal wrangling will revolve around the question of what, precisely, constitutes a preference.

With its burgeoning ethnic diversity, California has become the spawning ground for voter-driven responses to racial and economic insecurities - and a trend-setter for the nation. As with Prop. 187, passage of 209 is expected to spark an explosion of similar legislation across the United States.