Government
Oct. 7, 2014
New law aimed at helping minorities challenge legislation
A bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last week, AB 2646 by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, expands minorities' ability to challenge legislation and ballot measures that impede a group's ability to push for legal changes affecting the demographic's interests.
By Paul Jones
Daily Journal Staff Writer
A bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last week, AB 2646 by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, expands minorities' ability to challenge legislation and ballot measures that impede a group's ability to push for legal changes affecting the demographic's interests. Specifically, the state would have to show that any changes to law alleged to modify policymaking processes in such a way that disadvantage a minority are necessary and the least-burdensome option. In a press release heralding Brown's signature, Ting said the legislation could impact efforts such as those seeking to ban gay marriage. The law is intended to combat "structural discrimination," in which laws that appear neutral on their face are alleged to be designed to undermine specific minority groups. AB 2646's legislative analysis cites as an example a 1982 Supreme Court case, Washington v. Seattle School District, in which the justices struck down a Seattle initiative the blocked a school board from requiring students to attend schools other than those nearest them, finding it was designed to upend desegregation efforts.
paul_jones@dailyjournal.com
Paul Jones
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