Affirmative Action Victory in Michigan

In a 2-1 decision July 1 by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the ban on the use of race-based criteria in making Michigan's public education, public contracting and public employment decisions was reversed. The Court's opinion, with Judge Julia Smith Gibbons dissenting, held that amending the state constitution using Proposition 2 "modifies Michigan's political process to place special burdens on the ability of minority groups to achieve beneficial legislation."