Hi-Voltage Wire Works, Inc. v. City of San Jose

Opinion

BROWN, J.—

“In the history of this Court and this country, few questions have been more divisive than those arising from governmental action taken on the basis of race.” (Fullilove v. Klutznick (1980) 448 U.S. 448, 516 [100 S.Ct. 2758, 2794, 65 L.Ed.2d 902] (conc. opn. of Powell, J.); see also DeFunis v. Odegaard (1974) 416 U.S. 312, 350 [94 S.Ct. 1704, 1722, 40 L.Ed.2d 164] (dis. opn. of Brennan, J.).) In November 1996, the California voters added yet another chapter to the long and tortuous history of this question when they approved Proposition 209, which amended our Constitution to…