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Federal Circuit declares unconstitutional federal law setting goal that five percent of federal defense contracting dollars be awarded to small business concerns owned and controlled by "socially and economically disadvantaged individuals"

Federal Circuit declares unconstitutional federal law setting goal that five percent of federal defense contracting dollars be awarded to small business concerns owned and controlled by "socially and economically disadvantaged individuals": You can access today's ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit at this link.

The final paragraph of today's opinion begins, "For the foregoing reasons, we hold that Section 1207, on its face, as reenacted in 2006, violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment right to due process. Because the statute authorizes DOD to afford preferential treatment on the basis of race, we must apply strict scrutiny. And because Congress did not have a 'strong basis in evidence' upon which to conclude that DOD was a passive participant in pervasive, nationwide racial discrimination--at least not on the evidence produced by DOD and relied on by the district court in this case--the statute fails strict scrutiny."

Full post as published by How Appealing on November 04, 2008 (boomark / email).