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San Francisco's 20-year-old program to promote women and minorities in city contracts suffered a potentially fatal blow Tuesday when a judge ruled that it violated Proposition 209, the voter-approved state initiative banning preferential treatment based on race and sex. Judge James Warren of San Francisco Superior Court said the city's contracting law giving bidding advantages and preferences to women and minorities is similar to a San Jose ordinance that the California Supreme Court struck down in 2000 because it violated Prop. 209. Under the rules, minority and women-owned business were given special notices of opportunities and an automatic ten percent deduction from their bids. A spokesman for the city attorney's office says the city will appeal the judge's ruling. [m0re]