PLF and CEO model brief on racial contracting preferences

November 07, 2017 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

About seven years ago, then PLF attorney Sharon Browne co-drafted a model brief with Roger Clegg of the Center for Equal Opportunity. The model brief is intended to be used by attorneys looking to challenge government policies that require race-based contracting preferences. In the two decades since the Supreme Court last ruled on the constitutionality of contracting preferences, there has been many differing opinions in the courts of appeals and state supreme courts concerning their continued legality.

After PLF unveiled its new website in September, that model brief was unwittingly taken down. However, I’ve received a number of inquiries asking for it, so I wanted to reintroduce it here on the Liberty Blog. You can find it here. Hopefully attorneys around the country will continue to find it helpful in drafting briefs that challenge the government’s use of race when awarding public contracts.  And maybe, in a couple of years, we’ll have that next Supreme Court case that will finally bring needed clarity to this area of the law.