For an FDA board I would tend to agree that racial quotas are meaningless. For a police advisory board it makes total sense to me.
Cedar Rapids man says city ordinance discriminates against whites
- Thread starter cigaretteman
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Again, I get the reason, and it's important. But the problem is, legally, it has to do more than "make sense" (i.e., pass 'rational basis' review) if you are going to have an explicit racial classification. Usually, in the context of explicit racial classifications, a government entity must show a compelling state interest, and that the racial classification is necessary to the achievement of that interest. Setting aside whether it is or not compelling (relatively few things actually are), the fact that they achieved the goal of minority community input in the other board member criteria in and of itself illustrates why doing so via an explicit racial proxy is not "necessary."
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The legal question will come down on how much latitude and discretion a mayor has to create their own advisory board.
As noted, it is very likely current settled law establishes extremely broad latitude. It seems to me this activist lawyer is looking to challenge that settled law.
That looks like straight legalese. Where did you get that?
But the response I would give is that the interest they are trying to achieve is to have better communication between cops and minority communities, or at least a major goal of the board. The fact that there's a 5/9 minority mandate pretty much proves this.
This is not some informal mayoral advisory board, this is created by city ordinance, with very specifically enumerated powers, duties, and authority.
https://www.cedar-rapids.org/local_...nd_commissions/citizen_review_board_(crb).php
Sadly, I am in fact afflicted with a law degree, so it is legalese because it is in fact the legal standard. I get the interest, and lord knows I agree with you that there is value to having such a board, and particularly in having mechanisms to ensure that there is minority community input. But in this country, you simply can't (legally) establish quotas, no matter how noble the ends.
- Sep 13, 2002
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Pretty sure any advisory board has to be created via ordinance.
Doesn't change the legal precedents.
As i said earlier, people can achieve their goals very easily if they don't overreach (whether intentionally or stupidly). Now, for better or worse, they have a federal lawsuit to deal with that could have easily been avoided.
Ok then, i don't need case law, but give me one example of a mayoral advisory board that included an explicit racial quota in its membership ordinance. That is not an exercise of discretion ("I picked Janice because I know she really has her finger on the pulse of the community's concerns").
Well we're in big ass trouble if the meaning of CRIME has to be explained to people of various ethnicities.
Is that all you took from this discussion? While @Aardvark86 and I actually had an interesting, adult discussion, this is all you could come up with?
Ah yes, the Elon Musk gambit. Who knows? Let's just say that I hope that the persons who apply/have applied for the positions do so in good faith. As I have made clear elsewhere I'm not much of a fan of astroturf litigation that serves no purpose other than to stick a hypothetical thumb in the other guy's eye.
No, it means they're not going to be douche canoes and do a background check to verify their ancestry.
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