U.S. Supreme Court

LOS ANGELES - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a high-profile affirmative action case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Fisher v. University of Texas, urging the Court to reaffirm its 2003 ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger and allow public universities to consider race as one factor among many in admissions decisions.

In the brief, Attorney General Harris argues that public colleges and universities should be able to consider race not only to increase the numbers of underrepresented students of color admitted, but to also ensure that students at these colleges and universities are reflective of a broad range of backgrounds and experiences.  As the Supreme Court ruled in 2003, there is a compelling interest in providing the educational benefits of a diverse student body at public colleges and universities that can justify considering an applicant’s race as part of a holistic admissions plan.  Additionally, the brief argues that diversity on college and university campuses produces benefits that extend into our society and democratic process.

“To prepare our future leaders to thrive in the global workforce, we must embrace the educational benefits of diversity,” said Attorney General Harris.  “I strongly urge the U.S. Supreme Court to reaffirm its decision that public colleges and universities may consider race as one factor in admissions decisions.”

The brief acknowledges the limitations imposed by Proposition 209 on California’s efforts to increase the diversity of its academic institutions.  Proposition 209, among other things, prohibits California from considering race during admissions decisions to its public colleges and universities.  As the brief emphasizes, however, California has a strong interest in retaining the flexibility to change course in the future, and each state should have the broadest discretion permissible to decide how to fashion suitable admission standards.

The U.S. Supreme Court first considered this challenge to the University of Texas admissions plan in 2012 and Attorney General Harris submitted a friend-of-the-court brief at that time.  The President of the University of California and the Chancellors of its campuses have also filed a brief arguing that the University of California is unable to achieve the academic benefits brought by diversity because of Proposition 209, as they did in 2012.

The case is set for oral argument on December 9, 2015.

A copy of the brief is attached to the electronic version of this release at oag.ca.gov/news.

SACRAMENTO – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges:

“Finally the highest court in the land has acknowledged that marriage is a fundamental right to which no one should be denied. This holding reaffirms the sacred principle that all people are created equal. It's time to end the debate – let the wedding bells ring.”

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in King v. Burwell:

“The Affordable Care Act delivered access to quality, affordable health coverage to millions of Californians who otherwise would not have been able to afford insurance. Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in King v. Burwell ensures that millions of families can keep their affordable health insurance. Because of this ruling, health insurance continues to be accessible to every American, making our entire nation healthier and more prosperous.”

SAN FRANCISCO – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to deny review in all five pending same sex marriage cases:

“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is a significant victory in the fight for marriage equality. Those circuit courts that are still considering this issue should swiftly join those that have already ruled in favor of equality. There are many gay and lesbian couples across the country who are still waiting to realize their full civil rights, and I urge the courts to move quickly to ensure that every American has the right to marry the person they love.”

LOS ANGELES -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby:

“A woman’s access to quality, affordable preventive healthcare coverage should not depend on her employer’s beliefs. Every woman should be able to make healthcare decisions for herself and her family. I am deeply disappointed that the Court ruled to limit this important right.  

The decision also opens a perilous loophole that may enable private, for-profit companies to challenge other common-sense laws—including those that protect against discrimination—based on the religious beliefs of their shareholders or managers.”

In January 2014, Attorney General Harris was joined by 13 states and the District of Columbia to file a friend-of-the-court brief that urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit which held that for-profit businesses may exercise religion and therefore are covered by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.

SAN FRANCISCO – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to strike down a lower court’s ruling that would allow for-profit companies to deny essential healthcare to female employees based on the religious beliefs of the company’s owners.

“Every American deserves access to quality, comprehensive healthcare,” Attorney General Harris said. “A woman’s access to essential services, including contraception, should not be restricted because of the religious views of her employer—particularly when the right to these services is protected under federal law.”

Attorney General Harris’ brief, co-authored by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, urges the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Kathleen Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. that held that for-profit businesses may exercise religion and therefore are covered by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The ruling would deny women coverage for contraception, which is protected under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a critical preventive service.

The brief further asks the Court to affirm the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit’s ruling in a companion case (Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Kathleen Sebelius) that came to the opposite conclusion and held that for-profit companies could not claim religious exemptions from the ACA coverage requirement.

Thirteen states and the District of Columbia joined Attorney General Harris and Attorney General Coakley’s brief, including Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

“Measures adopted by States, and now the federal government, to expand affordable access to contraceptives through health plan coverage provisions are narrowly tailored to further compelling public interests in promoting gender equity and achieving significant health, social, and economic benefits,” the brief states.

A copy of the brief is attached to the electronic version of this release at oag.ca.gov/news.

SAN FRANCISCO – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s announcement that it will hear Kathleen Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.:

“Under the Affordable Care Act, all Americans have the right to access affordable, quality healthcare, including contraception,” Attorney General Harris said. “For profit companies should not be able to deny women access to healthcare based on the religious beliefs of the company’s owners. The 10th circuit ruling should be reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

In October, Attorney General Harris filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to take up this case and was joined by ten states including Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

A copy of the first brief is attached to the electronic version of this release at oag.ca.gov/news.

SAN FRANCISCO – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to review whether for-profit businesses may claim religious exemptions from a requirement under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that employee health plans cover contraception. 

Attorney General Harris’ brief urges the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Kathleen Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., and asks the Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling that would allow two for-profit corporations to avoid full compliance with the law.

“Access to contraceptive services is critical to the health of women and infants; women’s economic and social wellbeing; and women’s opportunities to participate fully in society,” the amicus brief states.

Further, the brief argues that a lower court’s determination that for-profit corporations may assert religious exemptions to certain laws could interfere with enforcement of other important regulations that protect public safety, civil rights, social welfare, housing, employment and public health.

“The freedom of individuals to exercise the religion of their choosing is one of the most important values in our society, as reflected by its enshrinement in the federal Constitution. The federal government’s contraceptive coverage regulations under ACA respect that freedom through inclusion of appropriate exemptions, while also advancing the similarly compelling interests in public health and gender equality in access to health care. The court of appeals’ decision would upset that balance and threaten far-reaching impacts on the States beyond the issues presented by this action,” the amicus brief states.

Ten states joined Attorney General Harris’ brief, including Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

The brief addresses a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. 

A copy of the brief is attached to the electronic version of this release at oag.ca.gov/news.

LOS ANGELES – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today declared that the United States Supreme Court’s historic opinion in Hollingsworth v. Perry means that every county in the State of California must now recognize the right of same sex couples to legally marry and asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to lift its stay and allow same-sex marriages to take place.

“The Supreme Court’s historic ruling in Hollingsworth v. Perry means that same-sex couples have the fundamental right to be legally married in all of California’s 58 counties,” said Attorney General Harris. “The Court agreed with our argument that opponents of same-sex marriage lacked the legal standing required to bring the issue to the court. Same-sex marriages can legally resume in California as soon as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifts its stay on the District Court Ruling. I ask that the Ninth Circuit lift this stay immediately, because gay and lesbian couples in California have waited long enough for their full civil rights.”

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 opinion, found that proponents of Proposition 8 lacked the legal standing necessary to challenge the rights of gays and lesbians to marry. The Supreme Court decision lets stand a District Court ruling that found Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

Today’s historic Supreme Court opinion echoed legal arguments Attorney General Harris made in an amicus brief submitted to the Court on February 27.

“Because we find that petitioners do not have standing, we have no authority to decide this case on the merits, and neither did the Ninth Circuit,” reads the Supreme Court opinion.  “We have never before upheld the standing of a private party to defend the constitutionality of a state statute when state officials have chosen not to. We decline to do so for the first time here.”

Attorney General Harris filed a brief with the Supreme Court in February that argued opponents of same-sex marriage had no legal standing to interfere with the rights of others. (https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-files-us-supreme-court-brief-support-marriage)

“Unlike state officials, proponents have no authority to enforce Proposition 8, and suffered no injury-in-fact from the district court’s judgment enjoining its enforcement,” the amicus brief states. As a result, the Proposition 8 sponsors “can only assert the kind of undifferentiated interest in the validity of state law that this Court has held to be insufficient for [legal] standing.”

Attorney General Harris also argued that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional:  “To be clear, Proposition 8’s sole purpose was to prevent same-sex couples from marrying. There is absolutely no legitimate or rational state interest in doing so. Proposition 8 is therefore unconstitutional.”

In May 2011, Attorney General Harris filed a similar amicus brief in California Supreme Court.

Attorney General Harris also praised the Supreme Court’s ruling that found the 1996 “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA) unconstitutional. Specifically, the court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor found that Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional because it discriminated against a specific class of people, gays and lesbians.

“DOMA’s principal effect is to identify and make unequal a subset of state-sanctioned marriages.  It contrives to deprive some couples married under the laws of their State, but not others, of both rights and responsibilities, creating two contradictory marriage regimes within the same State,” reads the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor. 

In February, Attorney General Harris joined 14 other attorneys general in filing a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down DOMA as unconstitutional.

“I joined 14 other Attorneys General in filing an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn DOMA because it is unconstitutional,” said Attorney General Harris. “It is gratifying to see the highest court in the land deliver an across-the-board victory for equality and justice today. Edith Windsor deserved to have her marriage recognized by the United States, and today’s decision is a historic step forward in the fight for civil rights for same-sex couples across this country.”

A copy of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hollingsworth v. Perry can be found here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-144_8ok0.pdf. 

In a letter to Governor Brown, Attorney General Harris advised that the State Department of Public Health instruct county clerks and recorders in all 58 counties to resume issuing marriage licenses to and recording the marriages of same-sex couples.  Same-sex marriages will resume as soon as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifts its stay on the District Court ruling.

A copy of the letter sent to Governor Brown is attached to the online version of this release at www.oag.ca.gov.

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris will hold a press conference today to discuss the Supreme Court’s ruling that the opponents of same-sex marriage do not have standing to sue.

LIVESTREAM  link: http://oag.ca.gov/

In February of this year, Attorney General Harris filed a friend-of-the-court brief to the United States Supreme Court arguing that the opponents of same sex marriage did not have the legal standing necessary to challenge marriage equality in the nation’s highest court. Today, the Supreme Court agreed that Proposition 8’s supporters lacked standing.  A copy of the Attorney General’s amicus brief is attached to the electronic version of this release at: http://oag.ca.gov/news.

WHEN:  TODAY, Wednesday, June 26 - 10:30 a.m.

NOTE: This event is open to credentialed media only.