Brief Fact Summary. A minority set-aside provision program was held to violate a white contractor’s equal protection rights because it violates both prongs of equal protection strict scrutiny analysis.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. All laws that discriminate on the basis of race, including those that discriminate against whites, are subject to strict scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Issue. Whether a minority set-aside Plan violates equal protection.
Held. Yes. Judgment of the Court of Appeals affirmed. Congress, like any other state or political subdivision, has a specific constitutional mandate to enforce the dictates of the Fourteenth Amendment. Section one of the Fourteenth Amendment is an explicit constraint on state power, and the states must take any remedial efforts in accordance with that provision. As a mater of state law, Richmond has legislative authority over its procurement policies and can use its spending powers to remedy private discrimination, if it identifies that discrimination with the particularity required by the Fourteenth Amendment. Here, the Richmond plan denies certain citizens the opportunity to compete for a fixed percentage of public contracts based solely upon their race. The purpose of strict scrutiny is to “smoke out” illegitimate uses of race by assuring that the legislative body is pursuing a goal that is important enough to warrant use of a highly suspect tool. Further, the guarantee of equal p
rotection cannot mean one thing when applied to one individual and something else when applied to a person of another color. The city has failed to demonstrate a compelling interest in apportioning public contracting opportunities on the basis of race. Therefore, this Plan violates equal protection.
In Croson, the Richmond City Council adopted a set-aside program that required prime contractors to whom the city awarded construction contracts to subcontract at least 30 percent of the dollar amount of the contract to minority businesses.
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