On Monday, a delay in the implementation of Proposal 2 was granted to three universities who filed a legal motion earlier this month requesting that they be exempted from having to comply with Proposal 2 by its December 22 implementation date. The delay will allow colleges and universities in Michigan to complete their Fall 2007 admissions processes under their pre-Proposal 2 policies. At the same time, Michigan cities are also working to understand how Proposal 2 will change their operations, with Grand Rapids discussing changes in contracting policies on Tuesday. A policy in place at the City of Grand Rapids that required contractors whose services cost more than $10,000 to have an affirmative action policy will be dropped because it is now unconstitutional. Equal Opportunity Director Ingrid Scott-Weekly says that "the reality is women and minority contractors will probably lose ground" due to Proposal 2. The City of Lansing has filed a lawsuit asking to be granted an extension on complying with Proposal 2, arguing that it cannot complete an audit measuring compliance with Proposal 2 and changing policy by the December 22 deadline. In related legal news, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the NAACP have filed a lawsuit seeking a "declaratory ruling" from the United States District Court in Detroit stating that "Proposal 2 does not ban programs that use race or gender as part of the decision-making process in any manner whatsoever" based on the Supreme Court's 2003 view that it is constitutionally permissible for universities to consider race and gender as one of many admissions factors.
As universities and cities in Michigan alter policies to comply with Proposal 2, Proposal 2's out of state backer, Ward Connerly, announced that his campaign is exploring the possibility of pursuing bans in nine additional states. Connerly is scheduled to visit Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Utah to evaluate prospects for ballot initiatives banning affirmative action in those states. In a press conference last week, Connerly explained that he intends to pursue a state-by-state strategy for banning affirmative action nationally. Like in Michigan, Washington, and California where proposals to ban affirmative action have been passed, Connerly will target a portion of the twenty other states that allow petitions for ballot proposals to be placed directly before voters and is looking at the possibility of placing anti-affirmative action measures on the ballot in multiple states for the November 2008 election. It was also announced last week that Jennifer Gratz, the woman who claimed that she was denied admission to the University of Michigan because of affirmative action policies and later ran the fraud-laden Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) campaign, will join Ward Connerly's American Civil Rights Institute and will organize against affirmative action full time.
