New Hearing Sought on Calif. Affirmative Action Ban

Supporters of affirmative action are asking a federal appeals court in California to reconsider a decision upholding a ban on race-based preferences in admissions to state colleges, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The decision last week by a three-judge panel from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco re-affirmed an earlier ruling on Proposition 209, a 1996 voter-approved referendum prohibiting preferential treatment for minorities.

But a group called By Any Means Necessary, joined by 55 University of California applicants has re-filed its lawsuit asking for a hearing before the full court. They claim that Proposition 209 has resulted in unfair admissions practices in the university system.

The three judges on the appeals panel who heard the case last week were unanimous, however, in rejecting that argument. They noted in their ruling that the allegations had been considered and rejected by the same court in 1997, according tot he Chronicle.