Public advisory boards for government agencies are commonplace across the country, typically helping state agencies make informed decisions to carry out their public policies and priorities.
The Minnesota Health Equity Advisory and Leadership (HEAL) Council was one such board. Legislatively created in 2018, HEAL made recommendations on how to implement the Minnesota Department of Health’s equity plan into its policies and programs.
HEAL had 18 members, appointed to two-year terms by the Minnesota Health Department commissioner. Members could serve up to three terms, and state law required no prerequisites for membership except one: The health commissioner had to consider race when making appointments.
Specifically, HEAL membership had to include representation from the following preferred racial groups: African American and African heritage communities, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, Latina/o/x communities, and American Indian communities and Tribal governments.
Forced racial balancing created two major problems for the state. The first was difficulty filling open positions. This included a months-long effort to fill an open seat with an “Asian American or Pacific Islander” applicant, highlighting how the mandate led to racially discriminatory practices.
The second problem was far worse. These mandates denied public service opportunities to citizens for no reason other than their race. That’s racial discrimination, pure and simple, and it’s unconstitutional.
There was no shortage of qualified Minnesotans who could serve on the Council. This included at least one member of Do No Harm, a diverse nonprofit organization of over 14,000 physicians, healthcare professionals, medical students, patients, and policymakers committed to ensuring equality in healthcare.
Do No Harm’s Minnesota member was a physical therapy student who believed his healthcare experience would be a valuable addition to the Council. He believed HEAL members should be chosen based on their ability to advance the Council’s mission, not their immutable characteristics. But because he was not of a preferred race, he was at a profound disadvantage for any openings.
It’s wrong for the government to make assumptions about people’s experiences and qualifications based on arbitrary and offensive assumptions about race. And it’s unconstitutional.
No government official should use an individual’s race or ethnicity to determine who gets the opportunity to serve the public. Treating people differently according to immutable characteristics like race violates the very notion of equality before the law. People should be treated as individuals, not as members of a group they did not choose.
Represented by Pacific Legal Foundation at no charge, Do No Harm fought back. Its federal lawsuit challenged the racial quota for Minnesota’s HEAL Council as violating the Constitution’s equal protection guarantee. In 2025, the case was dismissed.
Unfortunately, Minnesota was not the only state that used immutable characteristics to limit opportunities for individuals to serve their state and local communities. A PLF report found instances in 25 states where such unconstitutional discrimination had been codified. Without action, the problem was likely to worsen. PLF is working to defeat race-based board quotas everywhere the unconstitutional practice is allowed.
What’s At Stake?
- Minnesota cannot use race to disqualify or disfavor individuals from public service. This sort of blatant discrimination is unjust, demeaning, and a clear violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
- Limiting opportunities—like public board membership—based on race violates the very notion of equality before the law. People should be treated as individuals, not as members of a group they did not choose.
