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Home / What We Fight For / Equality and Opportunity / End Discrimination on Government Boards

End Discrimination on Government Boards

Across the country, state and local governments are choosing members of boards and commissions on the basis of race and sex.

This discriminatory selection process for government boards—including medical boards, social work boards, and ethics boards—hurts everyone. Instead of focusing on identifying the most qualified individuals, the government is routinely looking only for individuals who satisfy the government’s preferred sex or skin color. This violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

While not every state discriminates in its boards and commissions, many do.

PLF found that 25 states have race- and/or sex-based mandates for public boards and commissions.

Fifteen of those states have mandates for every single board in the state. Other states have mandates only for certain boards. Our research suggests these provisions most often apply to state boards of social work (10 states), medical examination (6 states), pharmacy (6 states), and dentistry (6 states).

Read PLF’s report, Public Service Denied: How Discriminatory Mandates Prevent Qualified Individuals from Serving on Public Boards.

Race– and sex-based preferences violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, which guarantees that “no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Of Note

Court strikes down Iowa gender quota for Judicial Nominating Commission

For decades, Iowa had a gender quota for its Judicial Nominating Commission, which interviews and recommends individuals to be appointed by the governor to the Iowa Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Pacific Legal Foundation represented Charles Hurley, a grandfather and former state representative who was ineligible for election to the commission because of his gender. In 2024, Charles won his case: A federal court ruled Iowa’s gender quota unconstitutional.

Learn More

Race- and sex-based mandates for public service must end.

When the government uses race or sex to favor one group of people, it denies opportunities to another group.

Moreover, the imposition of race- and sex-based quotas on government boards and commissions sends a troubling message about the values of our society. It suggests that individuals should be judged not by their abilities or accomplishments but by their race or sex.

In a just society, individuals should be judged based on their character, qualifications, and achievements, not on immutable characteristics they cannot control.

PLF fights in courts across the country to end discrimination on government boards and commissions.

Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys are working to challenge these race- and sex-based mandates wherever they occur. No one should be denied the opportunity to serve their community on the basis of race or sex.

(Photo to left: PLF client Stephen Haile, who challenged a race-based quota for Arkansas’ Social Work Licensing Board. After Stephen filed his lawsuit, Arkansas passed a law removing the quota.)

Do you want to serve on a board but worry you'll be denied because of your race or sex? Submit your case to PLF and see if we can help you.

Submit your case

Attorneys & Staff

March 13, 2024

Washington Examiner: Montana hit with federal lawsuit over ‘race and gender balancing’ on medical board

A national medical advocacy group filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against Gov. Greg Gianforte’s (R-MT) office challenging Montana’s use of race and gender mandates to govern appointments to pub…

February 14, 2024

Reuters: Iowa judicial nominating panel's gender quotas are unconstitutional, US judge says

A federal judge on Thursday ruled that an Iowa law requiring an equal number of men and women from each of its congressional districts to serve in elected seats on a commission that vets applicants to…

January 11, 2024

Alabama Reporter: Lawsuit challenges “racial quota” for Alabama Real Estate Appraisers Board

There is presently one opening on the board for a public member, and the statute requires the governor to consider race when appointing a person to that opening. At least one interested member of the …

November 7, 2023

Wall Street Journal: Tennessee’s Racial Podiatry Rule

The Supreme Court’s ruling this summer in Students for Fair Admissions ended racial preferences among college applicants, but the task of extending that legal precedent for colorblindness is only be…

January 23, 2024 | By LAURA D’AGOSTINO

Victory: Court rules gender quota unconstitutional

Your gender shouldn’t disqualify you from a public position: That’s the key takeaway from Pacific Legal Foundation’s district court victory in Hurley v. Gast in Iowa. In the late 1980s, the Iowa state legislature passed several bills requiring state boards and commissions to be gender balanced. The move was part of a larger, worldwide push …

January 05, 2024 | By ERIN WILCOX

The Hill: Republican governors should end racial preferences at the state level

GOP governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis and Alabama’s Kay Ivey have been making splashy headlines for attacking diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards at companies like BlackRock and Disney. But the laws of their own states allow racial preferences in education, employment and publi …

March 15, 2023 | By BRITTANY HUNTER

Arkansas Governor signs bill protecting the right to equality before the law

The Arkansas legislature just passed a law that will help ensure public service workers are not prevented from serving on the Social Work Licensing Board because of their race. This comes as a huge relief to Pacific Legal Foundation client Stephen Haile, whose race has barred him from helping his community. Stephen and his wife …

End Discrimination on Government Boards

Of Note

Court strikes down Iowa gender quota for Judicial Nominating Commission

Race- and sex-based mandates for public service must end.

Attorneys & Staff

Joshua P. Thompson

Laura D’Agostino

Caleb R. Trotter

Glenn E. Roper

Jen Ohman

Cases

Tennessee’s race quotas for government boards deny equality and opportunity

Do No Harm v. William Lee

Illegal race quotas on government boards undermine equality and opportunity

Do No Harm v. Lee II

Race and gender preferences deny equality and opportunity on Montana’s public boards

Do No Harm v. Gianforte

Louisiana’s medical board race quota denies equality and opportunity

Do No Harm v. John Bel Edwards

Race quotas for government boards deny equality and opportunity

American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Kay Ivey

Race quotas for public service deny equality and opportunity

American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Tim Walz

Arkansas’ race quotas for licensing boards deny equality and destroy opportunity

Stephen Haile v. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson

Race preferences for government committees deny equality and opportunity

Miall, et al. v. Asheville