Articles

The California Coastal Commission is at it again, trying to rid the coastal zone of all things private and commercial.  But this time, it’s doing so indirectly–using another state agency to do its bidding. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is the state agency responsible for managing and improving California’ ...

The disappointing decision by the Ninth Circuit yesterday in AGC San Diego v California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) means that Caltrans can continue its policy of multiracial discrimination. Caltrans imposes a one-size-fits-all racial preference on all federally assisted transportation construction and engineering contracts statewide. ...

Useful innocent? Useful idiot?  No, just uninformed.  At least that appears to be the explanation for a contractor who expressed delight with a court ruling that allows the government to continue its racial discrimination . . . against him. In 2011, a federal district court judge for the Eastern District of California upheld a California Depar ...

Is race a qualification for contractors in California?  Last November, the United States Department of Transportation approved the policy of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) that 9.5% of the federal funds the state receives for transportation projects will go to subcontractors of preferred races.  The policy is contained in ...

In my last post about our case Associated General Contractors of America, San Diego Chapter  v. California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), I described how Caltrans implements the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program in a way that requires prime contractors to discriminate against subcontractors on the basis of race and ...

Earlier this week I participated in oral argument before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for our case in Associated General Contractors of America, San Diego Chapter v. California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).  As a condition of taking federal highway funds, Caltrans administers a federal contracting program called the Disadvantaged ...

Today we remember the perseverance, passion, and dream of one our nation’s greatest advocates for liberty and equality under the law: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He fought tirelessly to end segregation and discrimination, and changed the course of history in the process. In his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on ...

Environment — Clean Water Act We filed our complaint on behalf of Peter and Frankie Smith against the Army Corps of Engineers.  At issue is whether a mostly dry arroyo, 25 miles from the Rio Grande, is a water of the United States.  After acquiring the property, Peter Smith began to clean out years of accumulated waste … ...

Following Obama’s victory last week, Ilya Somin of the Volokh Conspiracy wrote that “it’s certainly a sign that racism has greatly declined, and that African-Americans are more fully accepted in mainstream American society than ever before.”  There is a certain kernel of truth in that statement.  Having a black American as ...