City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co.: What Does It Portend for Affirmative Action
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Authors
Rasnic, Carol D.
Issue Date
1990
Volume
23
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)|The United States Supreme Court has tackled the legality of affirmative action on nine occasions since the 1978 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke decision, most recently in City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. In Croson, the United States Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a Richmond, Virginia city ordinance that reserved thirty percent of the subcontracts for city construction work for minority contractors. The immediate significance of Croson is its potential effect on the approximately three dozen states and 190 localities which have adopted similar referential programs. |This latest in the Court's conundrum of decisions most likely will be widely criticized as making even more difficult any prediction as to what programs will meet constitutional muster. The Court has been accused of having "flip-flopped" on affirmative action plans for the better part of a decade, having approved some quotas and rejected others. The Court has indeed invalidated some plans markedly similar to those it has upheld, causing one commentator to categorize the Court's position as "notoriously murky." The Court is seemingly searching for standards with which to resolve this issue, which many will view as still unsettled even after Croson. |An analysis of the ten most recent statements by the Court, however, does reveal an emerging set of standards from which a fair prognosis of the legality of affirmative action plans might be made. This article offers an historical summary of the origins of affirmative action; briefly discusses each of the ten cases, focusing particularly on Croson; and concludes with the submission of a developing trend perceived from a synthesis of these decisions...
Description
Citation
23 Creighton L. Rev. 19 (1989-1990)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law