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The California Supreme Court said Wednesday it will not review lower court rulings requiring the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to dismantle a program that gives preferences to minority contractors. The case narrows an escape clause in Proposition 209, California's anti-affirmative action initiative. It now becomes a binding precedent statewide unless there's a new Court of Appeal ruling. Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Sharon Browne, who spearheaded the case against the utility, said it will affect contracting, education and employment throughout California. Agencies won't be allowed to adopt race-conscious programs unless the federal government tells them they must as a condition of receiving federal funds, she said. But Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights attorney Oren Sellstrom, who led a coalition of civil rights groups in urging a Supreme Court review, said the case "erodes the whole notion of voluntary compliance with federal civil rights law." He compared it to "saying that a taxpayer can't comply with federal tax laws unless he has substantial evidence that he'll be audited." Proposition 209 is a state constitutional amendment prohibiting race-based affirmative action in state and local contracting, employment and education. The clause at issue in the SMUD case permits public agencies to take race-conscious action when it's necessary to qualify for federal funds. [more]