Fullilove v. Klutznick 1980
| Author | Daniel Brannen, Richard Hanes, Elizabeth Shaw |
| Pages | 501-506 |
Page 501
Petitioner: H. Earl Fullilove and others
Respondent: Philip M. Klutznick, U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Petitioner's Claim: That a provision in the law requiring that 10 percent of all federal funds for local public works projects go to minority-owned businesses violates the U.S. Constitution.
Chief Lawyers for Petitioner: Robert G. Benisch and Robert J. Hickey
Chief Lawyers for Respondent: Drew S. Days III
Justices for the Court: Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Warren E. Burger, Thurgood Marshall, Lewis F. Powell, Byron R. White
Justices Dissenting: William H. Rehnquist, John Paul Stevens, Potter Stewart
Date of Decision: July 2, 1980
Decision: Affirmed lower court rulings rejecting the petitioners' claim that minority "set-asides" were unconstitutional.
Significance: The decision clarified the Court's position on the constitutionality of minority set-aside programs. Plus many state and local governments adopted set-aside programs for minority-owned businesses.
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Congress had long struggled with the fact that when various government agencies, including state and local governments, contracted for construction of public works projects rarely did they contract with minority-owned businesses. Public works projects are projects that receive money from the federal government for such things as construction of schools, courthouses, post offices, roads, bridges, dams, power projects, water systems, and waste treatment plants. Federal money received by governmental agencies to pay for the projects almost never reached minority business enterprises (companies).
In May of 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed the Public Works Emplyment Act, making it a law.
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According to Representative Mitchell of Maryland, speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives on February 23, 1977, " . . . every agency of the Government has tried to figure out a way to avoid doing this very thing. Believe me, these bureaucracies can come up with 10,000 ways to avoid doing it."
Representative Mitchell pointed out that in 1976 less than one percent of federal funds for these projects found their way to minority companies, yet minorities made up 15-18 percent of the general population. Representative Mitchell's efforts ended with passage of the Public Works Employment Act of 1977. The act authorized an additional $4 billion for
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federal grants [money from the federal government for projects] to be awarded by the Secretary of Commerce to state and local governments for use in local public works projects. But there was a "catch" to these dollars. The catch was a section of the act, Section 103...
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