Affirmative Action has been used since 1961 to expand opportunity and promote equality.

2000 - current   |    1990-1999   |    1980-1989   |    1970-1979   |    1960-1969    |   Show All

2005 Michigan's Anti-Affirmative Campaign Submits Signatures
Ward Connerly's Michigan Civil Rights Initiative campaign submits signatures in an attempt to place an anti-affirmative action initiative on the ballot for November 2006. Michigan law requires 320,000 valid signatures in order to qualify an initiative for ballot. Connerly's group claims to have about 500,000 signatures. Civil rights groups criticize Connerly's efforts in Michigan because it denies access to equal opportunity. Furthermore, Connerly's group has come under attack due to evidence that the campaign's money comes from out-of-state donors.

2003 Californians Defeat Proposition 54
Californians vote to defeat Proposition 54, the so-called "Racial Privacy Initiative." The measure is voted down during California's special recall election, with 64 percent of the voters saying "no" and only 36 percent voting "yes."

2003 Anti-Proposition 54 Campaign Launched Online
Americans for a Fair Chance and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund launch an online campaign to educate the public about the dangers of CRECNO, which has been designated "Proposition 54" on the October 7, 2003, gubernatorial recall ballot.

2003 Anti-Affirmative Action Efforts Grow
In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling that race-based affirmative action is permissible, anti-affirmative-action foes try to use voter-based initiatives to overturn affirmative action in selected states. Ward Connerly announces that he is spearheading efforts in Michigan and Colorado to put anti-affirmative-action referenda to votes. Connerly is also promoting the California Classification of Race, Ethnicity and National Origin Initiative (CRECNO), which would make the collection of any data on racial and ethnic information illegal for the University of California and other state government agencies. CRENO is scheduled for a statewide vote in the upcoming fall.

2003 U.S. Supreme Court Reaffirms Affirmative Action
The Supreme Court reaffirms that universities may take race into consideration as one factor among many factors when selecting incoming students. In a 5 to 4 opinion written by Justice O'Connor, the Supreme Court in Grutter v. Bollinger, supported the University of Michigan Law School's affirmative action program and specifically endorsed Justice Powell's view in 1978's Regents of the University of California v. Bakke that student body diversity is a compelling state interest that can justify using race in university admissions. The Supreme Court thus resolved a split among the lower courts as to Bakke's value as binding precedent.

2003 Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments
The Supreme Court allows the Bush administration to present its views during the April 1 oral arguments in the Michigan case. The court rejects a similar request from minority students contending that race-conscious policies are needed to remedy past discrimination.

2003 Record Number of Briefs Filed in Support of Michigan
Hundreds of groups and individuals file friend-of-the-court briefs in the Michigan case before the Supreme Court's midnight deadline. Briefs supporting the university outnumber those supporting the white students by more than 3-to-1.

2003 Bush Administration Opposes University of Michigan Policies
The Bush Administration filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court opposing the affirmative action policies of the University of Michigan and urged that the policies be declared unconstitutional. Bush's position was condemned by LCCR and the civil rights community.

2002 Supreme Court To Hear Michigan Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would hear two cases, Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, involving the use of race-conscious affirmative action at the University of Michigan. The Court is expected to hear oral arguments in early Spring 2003.

2002 Sixth Circuit Upholds Use of Race in Grutter v. Bollinger
In a landmark decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the use of race as a factor for admission to the University of Michigan Law School. This decision, in Grutter v. Bollinger, sets a strong precedent for supporters of affirmative action and other programs that aim to promote equal opportunity and increase diversity in higher education.

2001 Supreme Court Looks at Federal Contracting Programs
The Supreme Court considered a challenge to federal contracting programs in the fall of 2001 in Adarand II, when it heard an appeal to the Tenth Circuit's determination that the Department of Transportation's revised Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program was constitutional. On November 27, 2001, the high court said that it was dismissing the appeal because the company challenging the program had changed its argument since it filed the appeal, and lower courts had not had the opportunity to review the new argument.

2001 Supreme Court To Review Court Decisions
The Court has is asked to review conflicting appellate court decisions on the use of affirmative action in higher education admissions decisions.

2001 Split at the Circuit Court Level
In Smith v. University of Washington, (9th Cir. 2000) the 9th Circuit upheld the university's affirmative action program, although the program could no longer be used after the passage of Initiative 200. On the other hand, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals followed the 5th Circuit in Hopwood and declared the University of Georgia affirmative action program unconstitutional in Johnson v. Regents of the University of Georgia, (S.D. Ga. 2000).

2001 California Enacts New Higher Education Plan
California enacts a new plan allowing the top 12.5% of high school students admission to the UC system, either for all four years or after two years outside the system, and guaranteeing the top 4% of all high school seniors admission into the UC system.

2001 Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Mineta
The Supreme Court dismisses this case as "improvidently granted", thereby leaving undisturbed the 10th Circuit's decision, which upheld the government's revised federal contracting program.

2000 New Labor Regulations
In an effort to promote equal pay, the US Department of Labor promulgated new affirmative action regulations including an Equal Opportunity Survey, which requires federal contractors to report hiring, termination, promotions and compensation data by minority status and gender. This is the first time in history that employers have been required to report information regarding compensation by gender and minority status to the federal equal employment agencies.

2000 Florida Bans Affirmative Action
Florida legislature passes "One Florida" Plan, banning affirmative action. The program also included the Talented 20% Plan that guarantees the top 20% admission to the University of Florida system.

2000 Circuit Courts Hear Higher Education Cases
Many Circuit Courts throughout the country heard cases regarding affirmative action in higher education, including the 5th Circuit in Texas (Hopwood), the 6th Circuit in Michigan (Grutter and Gratz), the 9th Circuit in Washington (Smith), and the 11th Circuit in Georgia (Johnson). The same District Court in Michigan made two different rulings regarding affirmative action in Michigan, with one judge deciding that the undergraduate program was constitutional while another judge found the law school program unconstitutional.