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California Constitution Article I Declaration Of Rights Section 31

Legal Research Home > California Laws > Constitution > California Constitution Article I Declaration Of Rights Section 31

SEC. 31.  (a) The State shall not discriminate against, or grant
preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of
race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of
public employment, public education, or public contracting.
 
  (b) This section shall apply only to action taken after the
section's effective date.
 
  (c) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prohibiting
bona fide qualifications based on sex which are reasonably necessary
to the normal operation of public employment, public education, or
public contracting.
 
  (d) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as invalidating
any court order or consent decree which is in force as of the
effective date of this section.
 
  (e) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prohibiting
action which must be taken to establish or maintain eligibility for
any federal program, where ineligibility would result in a loss of
federal funds to the State.
 
  (f) For the purposes of this section, "State" shall include, but
not necessarily be limited to, the State itself, any city, county,
city and county, public university system, including the University
of California, community college district, school district, special
district, or any other political subdivision or governmental
instrumentality of or within the State.
 
  (g) The remedies available for violations of this section shall be
the same, regardless of the injured party's race, sex, color,
ethnicity, or national origin, as are otherwise available for
violations of then-existing California antidiscrimination law.
 
  (h) This section shall be self-executing.  If any part or parts of
this section are found to be in conflict with federal law or the
United States Constitution, the section shall be implemented to the
maximum extent that federal law and the United States Constitution
permit.  Any provision held invalid shall be severable from the
remaining portions of this section.

Last modified: February 13, 2012