Michigan Supreme Court Allows Anti-affirmative Action Plan on Ballot

Majority says voters who signed petition are responsible for actions; district court is next.

The Detroit News

By Detroit News Lansing Bureau, Charlie Cain

July 14, 2006

LANSING -- The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday denied a motion to reconsider its March order allowing an anti-affirmative action proposal to go before voters on the November ballot, despite widespread allegations that many of the signatures were fraudulently gathered.

Hundreds of people have come forward to say they signed the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative petitions because those gathering the signatures told them that the measure was in support of affirmative action, not against it.

"The signers of these petitions did not sign the oral representations made to them by circulators; rather they signed written petitions that contained the actual language of the (ballot question)," Justice Stephen Markman wrote.

"In carrying out the responsibilities of self-government, 'we the people' of Michigan are responsible for our own actions," he wrote, adding that a person who signed the petition "cannot blame others when he signs a petition without knowing what it says."

Justices Michael Cavanagh and Jean Kelly dissented from the court majority and said they would have granted an appeal.

"The issues involved are of enormous public importance and merit full briefing and oral argument before the Court makes its final decision," Kelley wrote. "The allegations of fraud seem credible."

The proposed amendment to the state constitution would ban government and university admissions programs from giving preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin.

Luke Massie, co-chair of the group By Any Means Necessary, which opposes the ballot proposal, was disappointed by the ruling.

"The ... decision means that sweeping fraud targeted at Michigan's black voters for the purpose of amending the state's civil rights protections is OK," Massie said.

Jennifer Gratz, executive director of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which collected the petition signatures, said the ruling was the correct one.

"We're obviously happy that the people of Michigan will be able to decide this issue and not some radical group that wants to decide for everybody," Gratz said.

What's next

Opponents of the affirmative action ballot proposal have filed suit in U.S. District Court in Detroit. They are seeking an injunction to block the measure from appearing on the Nov. 7 ballot. Judge Arthur Tarnow has not set a hearing date.

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Carl Gutiérrez-Jones,
Department of English
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Email: carlgj@english.ucsb.edu