Brown Vetoes Bill That Would Allow Schools To Consider Race In Admission Policies

SACRAMENTO (CBS / AP) -- Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed a controversial bill that would have allowed public state universities to consider race as a relevant factor in their admission policies.

SB185 by Democratic Sen. Ed Hernandez of Los Angeles would have authorized public universities to consider race, gender, ethnicity and other factors in their undergraduate and graduate admissions. Voters barred the preferential treatment when they approved Proposition 209 in 1996.

Brown said in his veto message Saturday that he agrees with the bill's goal but that the courts, not the Legislature, should decide the limits of Proposition 209.

The bill was the subject of a satirical bake sale at the University of California, Berkeley, where students opposing it based prices for baked goods on the buyer's race, gender and ethnicity.

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