Audio Clip
BY RICK PLUTA
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission has filed a brief with a federal appeals court in Cincinnati. It opposes an effort by Republican state Attorney General Bill Schuette to get the court to uphold Michigan's ban on using race or gender in admissions decisions.
A panel of the U-S Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the ban on affirmative action in admissions policies last month. The Michigan attorney general is now asking the entire court to reconsider and reverse that decision. He said the court should give deference to the wishes of Michigan voters who approved the ban in 2006.
The Civil Rights Commission is an independent agency. The members of the commission were all appointed in recent years by Democrat Jennifer Granholm when she was governor.
The brief filed by the commission says universities not voters should be trusted to make decisions in the best interests of their students, and it was unconstitutional to single-out admissions policies dealing with race and gender diversity on the ballot.
There is no word on when the court may decide whether to reconsider the decision.
© Copyright 2010, MPRN
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission has filed a brief with a federal appeals court in Cincinnati. It opposes an effort by Republican state Attorney General Bill Schuette to get the court to uphold Michigan's ban on using race or gender in admissions decisions.
A panel of the U-S Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the ban on affirmative action in admissions policies last month. The Michigan attorney general is now asking the entire court to reconsider and reverse that decision. He said the court should give deference to the wishes of Michigan voters who approved the ban in 2006.
The Civil Rights Commission is an independent agency. The members of the commission were all appointed in recent years by Democrat Jennifer Granholm when she was governor.
The brief filed by the commission says universities not voters should be trusted to make decisions in the best interests of their students, and it was unconstitutional to single-out admissions policies dealing with race and gender diversity on the ballot.
There is no word on when the court may decide whether to reconsider the decision.
© Copyright 2010, MPRN
