Ritchey Produce Co. v. State

As a preliminary matter, we note that appellee and amici raise a number of arguments that tend to confuse rather than to clarify the issues presented by this appeal. Therefore, it is necessary to dispel some of this confusion before proceeding to the primary issue raised in this appeal, to wit, whether Ohio’s MBE Program, as administratively applied and as written, violates the equal protection guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.3

I

In its brief, ODAS correctly notes that racial classifications of the type set forth in R.C. 122.71(E)(1) must be analyzed…