City of Houston's minority, woman, small business program ruled unconstitutional
HOUSTON - A federal court has ruled the City of Houston's Minority Women and Small Business Enterprise Program unconstitutional, according to court records.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner issued a final judgment siding with two private landscape companies that challenged the racial preferences in local government contracts.
Court ruling
What we know:
The ruling awards judgment to the plaintiff, Landscape Consultants of Texas, Inc. and Metropolitan Landscape Management, Inc.
According to the court document, the racially discriminatory aspects of the City of Houston and Midtown Management District's Minority, Women, and Small Business Enterprise program were determined to be "unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."
The two entities are also prohibited from applying the "race-conscious portion" of the program in the award of public contracts.
The other side:
City Attorney Arturo Michel released a statement to FOX 26 on Tuesday evening saying, "Today, the City of Houston received the court’s decision concerning the challenge to its Minority Business Enterprise Program. The City is evaluating a potential appeal to the court’s ruling striking down that portion of the City’s program. The City recognizes that the court relied on recent United States Supreme Court decisions. The decision does not affect other programs, such as the City’s Small Business Enterprise Program. The City will abide by the court’s decision regarding existing contracts and recently awarded contracts pending any further court order."
The Source: Information from this article was provided by court documents obtained from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.