Court Opinion

ID: 9482907
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:04:36.135335+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:16.868491
License: Public Domain

RUTH BADER GINSBURG, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
The pathmarking Croson decision instructs that where, as here, race classification is resorted to for remedial purposes, measures must be narrowly focused and supported by a strong factual predicate. As Judge Randolph’s opinion ably demonstrates, the Minority Contracting Act falls short on both counts, and I therefore concur in the panel opinion. I do so with the understanding, made clear by Croson, that minority preference programs are not yer se offensive to equal protection principles, nor need they be confined solely to the redress of state-sponsored discrimination. See generally Associated General Contractors v. Coalition for Economic Equity, 950 F.2d 1401, 1413-18 (9th Cir.1991), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 112 S.Ct. 1670, 118 L.Ed.2d 390 (1992). Further, in his separate opinion in Croson, Justice Stevens reasoned, and I agree, that remedy for past wrong is not the exclusive basis upon which racial classification may be justified. See Croson, 488 U.S. at 511, 109 S.Ct. at 730.