Articles

Disparity studies get no respect

December 01, 2015 | By RALPH KASARDA

It turns out few people trust consulting firms that conduct disparity studies.  According to an article in the New York Daily News, New York City recently entered into a contract with consulting firm MGT of America to conduct a disparity study.  The firm is to determine whether the city gave out fewer contracts by percentage … ...

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Will Cincinnati award contracts based on race?

September 30, 2015 | By RALPH KASARDA

  Last year the City of Cincinnati agreed to pay a California-based company about $1 million to analyze city contracts for evidence of discrimination. The disparity study, which was actually completed in July, was finally released to the public this week. According to one news report, the study found disparities in City contracting that may & ...

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Will Oregon’s statistical study justify state-sponsored race discrimination?

March 10, 2015 | By RALPH KASARDA

The last time the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) asked highway construction contractors to comment on its race-conscious affirmative action contracting program, the response was uniform condemnation.  Male and female general contractors and subcontractors of all races criticized ODOT’s program, which encouraged general contractor ...

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Oops! Cleveland taxpayers billed $758,000 for cut-and-paste disparity study

March 01, 2013 | By RALPH KASARDA

Can a city prove intentional discrimination by relying on a disparity study whose conclusions and recommendations were lifted from another jurisdiction’s study? That’s the question city officials from Cleveland must ask themselves after reading this article from Cleveland.com. Ever since four U.S. Supreme Court justices agreed in ...

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Feds notified of California High Speed Rail’s disdain for federal law

August 27, 2012 | By RALPH KASARDA

Attorneys for the Pacific Legal Foundation notified the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that actions by the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) do not comply with federal law.  PLF’s letter to FRA, dated August 24, 2012, informs the federal agency that CHSRA’s recent adoption of a 10% goal for the participation of Di ...

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Milwaukee's guarantee of inequality

June 12, 2012 | By RALPH KASARDA

Last month the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin filed an important lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee over the City’s new public contracting program.  In short, the City’s program, spelled out in City Ordinance 370, violates the Equal Protection Clause by requiring contracting officials and prime contractors to discriminat ...

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North Carolina's contracting quotas found to be unconstitutional in H.B. Rowe v. Tippett

July 23, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Ralph W. Kasarda Under the guise of its Minority Business Enterprise and Woman Business Enterprise Program (MWBE Program), North Carolina has operated a discriminatory public contracting program since 1989.  Yesterday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in H.B. Rowe v. Tippett, held that most of the MWBE Program is unconstitu ...