Governor Jerry Brown Vetoes SB 185

This past weekend, Jerry Brown signed and vetoed SB 185 among dozens of other bills. His official statement on his decision was the following:

I wholeheartedly agree with the goal of this legislation…[However] Our constitutional system of separation of powers requires that the courts — not the Legislature — determine the limits of Proposition 209…Signing this bill is unlikely to impact how Proposition 209 is ultimately interpreted by the courts; it will just encourage the 209 advocates to file more costly and confusing lawsuits.

Governor Jerry Brown believes this bill, in some sense, violates Proposition 209–which prohibit public institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity. This might have left some residents in California in despair, but Berkeley College Republicans were pleased with Brown’s decision. The president of Berkeley College Republicans commented on the veto by saying:

The people of California believe, as does the Berkeley College Republicans, that college admission decisions should be based on the qualifications of the applicant and the individual challenges he or she has faced, not based on his or her race.

I agree 100% with that statement. However, as we discussed the effects of SB 185 on Asian Americans on a previous post, no matter what, the college admission process is going to be unfair.

[Photo Courtesy of SF Examiner]