Connerly

With the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996, California voters added section 31 to article I of the California Constitution (hereafter article I, section 31), outlawing all state discrimination or preferences based on race, gender or national origin. In 2003, the Legislature responded by enacting Government Code section 8315, [1] which attempted to graft onto article I, section 31 a definition of "racial discrimination" that excluded "special measures" taken to secure advancement for certain racial or ethnic groups. Ward Connerly, as a taxpayer and citizen of California, filed a lawsuit in December 2003 against the Governor and Attorney General (defendants), seeking two remedies: (1) a judicial declaration that section 8315 is invalid as in conflict with article I, section 31, and (2) a permanent injunction preventing defendants from implementing or enforcing section 8315.

While this lawsuit was pending, this court decided C & C Construction, Inc. v. Sacramento Municipal Utility Dist. (2004) 122 Cal.App.4th 284 , 18 Cal.Rptr.3d 715 ( C & C Construction), in which we held that section 8315's definition of "discrimination" was ineffective because it conflicted with the…