Home : Racial Justice : Affirmative Action

ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Asher's Effort To Eradicate Equal Opportunity (12/19/2008)
JEFFERSON CITY, MO – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Eastern Missouri filed a lawsuit challenging the latest attempt by a political operative to rewrite Missouri's state Constitution and ban equal opportunity programs in the state.

Opponents of Equal Opportunity Seek To Withdraw Their Own Ballot Measure (04/08/2008)
NEW YORK - In a significant blow to a national campaign against equal opportunity in America, backers of a proposed amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that would end equal access and opportunity programs in the state have asked the state supreme court to withdraw the measure from consideration. The move comes after supporters of the so-called Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative - spearheaded by Ward Connerly's American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) as part of a national crusade against affirmative action - failed to collect the signatures needed to get the proposal on this November's ballot. In conceding defeat, Connerly characterized the ACRI's efforts in Oklahoma as a "miscalculation."

ACLU of Oklahoma Challenges Anti-Civil Rights Ballot Measure (03/07/2008)
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma voters filed a protest today before the state Supreme Court challenging irregularities and questionable practices in the collection of signatures by the so-called Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative. The initiative is one of a series of anti-affirmative action ballot measures that California businessman Ward Connerly and his organization known as the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) have spearheaded across the country.

ACLU, NAACP File Lawsuit to Allow University of Michigan Admissions Programs to Continue (12/19/2006)
DETROIT - Filing a lawsuit today on behalf of 19 students, faculty and applicants to the University of Michigan, a coalition of civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, are asking a federal court to declare that the newly passed Proposal 2 has not changed the Supreme Court’s view, stated as recently as 2003, that it is constitutionally permissible for universities to consider race and gender as one factor among many in university admissions.

The African American Policy Forum Teams with the Michael Eric Dyson Show for a Groundbreaking Radio Series (11/02/2006)
DETROIT -- As Michigan counts down to the November 7 vote on whether to end affirmative action in the state, Kimberle Crenshaw, Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum and Professor of Law at University of California Los Angeles and Columbia University and American Civil Liberties Union Ira Glasser Racial Justice Fellow has inaugurated a 13-part radio series on the Michael Eric Dyson Show. In this unprecedented series, entitled "13 Myths About Affirmative Action: A Special Series on a Public Policy Under Seige" Professor Crenshaw and a bevy of guests will join host Michael Eric Dyson to cut through the jargon surrounding this hot-button issue and get beyond the myths associated with it to help to educate voters about affirmative action and Proposition 2.

ACLU Lauds Landmark Supreme Court Decisions Upholding University's Affirmative Action Policies (06/23/2003)
NEW YORK--The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Supreme Court's decisions today upholding the principle that public universities may continue to use affirmative action to ensure a diverse student body.

ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Uphold Affirmative Action Policies in College Admissions (03/31/2003)
NEW YORK-In a landmark case being argued tomorrow before the Supreme Court, the American Civil Liberties Union will urge the Justices to uphold the admissions policies of the University of Michigan, which seeks to promote a diverse student body by employing affirmative action programs.

ACLU Says Expected White House Brief Opposing Minority Equality in College Admissions Shows Lack of Commitment to Racial Justice (01/15/2003)
WASHINGTON - Responding to reports that the White House is expected to submit a brief to the Supreme Court opposing affirmative action in college admissions, the American Civil Liberties Union today said the decision is indicative of President Bush's less than robust commitment to equal rights and opportunity.

Turning Back Clock on Fairness, Court Rejects Univ. of Michigan's Affirmative Action Policy (03/27/2001)
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which was part of a legal team that successfully defended the university's undergraduate affirmative action policy, said that today's ruling could bring a return to the days when institutions of higher education are largely white and affluent. 

Citing Value of Diversity, Federal Court Upholds University of Michigan's Affirmative Action Policy (12/13/2000)
DETROIT--Saying that diversity in higher education is a "compelling government interest," a federal judge today rejected an attempt to dismantle the University of Michigan's affirmative action program.

Court of Appeals Grants Intervention Motion Filed by Coalition of Civil Rights Groups in University of Michigan Lawsuit (08/10/1999)
DETROIT -- A federal appeals court ruled today that African-American and Latino high school students have a "direct and substantial" interest in the outcome of a lawsuit over the University of Michigan's affirmative action policies.

Appeals Court Allows Rights Groups to Enter Affirmative Action Battle in Michigan (08/10/1999)
DETROIT -- A federal appeals court ruled today that African American and Latino high school students here have a "direct and substantial" interest in the outcome of a lawsuit over the University of Michigan's affirmative action policies and should be allowed to participate in a pending trial.

In Class-Action Lawsuit, ACLU Says CA Students Are Denied Equal Access to Advanced Placement Courses (07/27/1999)
LOS ANGELES -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today filed a civil rights class-action lawsuit in State Superior Court on behalf of public high school students who are being denied access to advanced placement courses.