Federal appeals court finds Michigan affirmative action ban unconstitutional

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Friday that Proposal 2 [text; JURIST news archive], an amendment to the Michigan Constitution [text, PDF] banning affirmative action in public employment, public education and state contracting, is unconstitutional. The court ruled that this unduly burdened minorities by abusing a political process where minorities were likely to have no redress.The Supreme Court’s statements in Hunter and Seattle clarify that equal protection of the laws is…