National Roundup

California
roup sues to block boardroom diversity law
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A conservative legal group announced Monday that it sued to block California’s first-in-the-nation law that requires hundreds of corporations based in the state to have directors from racial or sexual minorities on their boards.

Judicial Watch claimed in the suit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court that the law is unconstitutional.

“The legislation’s requirement that certain corporations appoint a specific number of directors based upon race, ethnicity, sexual preference, and transgender status is immediately suspect and presumptively invalid and triggers strict scrutiny review by the court,” the group said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill last week saying it was crucial to fighting racial injustice by giving minorities “seats at the table” of corporate power.

California already has a law requiring corporations to have at least one female director on their boards. Judicial Watch is also challenging that law in court and a trial is scheduled next summer.

The new measure cited statistics showing few of the 662 public corporations headquartered in California had Blacks or Latinos on their boards.

The measure requires at least two directors from different racial or sexual minority groups be appointed to boards with four to nine directors by the end of 2022. Three directors are required for boards with nine or more directors.

Firms that don’t comply would face fines of $100,00 for first violations and $300,000 for repeated violations.

Those who qualify would self-identify as Black, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian or Alaska Native, or as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

The lawsuit notes that a Senate analysis said the bill draws distinctions based on race and ethnicity, and therefore is “suspect.”

The group said the law is unconstitutional because the quotas don’t achieve a compelling governmental interest that is more narrowly defined than “the existence of general societal discrimination.”

Assemblyman Chris Holden, who coauthored AB 979, said research showed racial, ethnic and sexual minority groups were systematically excluded from corporate boards.

“No surprise!” Holden said in a statement about the lawsuit. “Some would rather maintain a status quo that doesn’t embrace diversity and inclusion.”

The lawsuit seeks to an order declaring it illegal to spend state funds to ensure companies comply with the law and to prevent the law from taking effect.

“California’s government has a penchant for quotas that are brazenly unconstitutional,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. “Gender quotas and now new quotas for numerous other groups for corporate boards are slaps in the face to the core American value of equal protection under the law.”

Florida
Teen arrested at high school after refusing to wear mask
WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) — The lawyer for the family of a 16-year-old boy who was arrested last month after refusing to wear a mask at a central Florida high school called the incident “government abuse” of a teen suffering from panic attacks.

The Winter Springs High School sophomore, whose name was redacted on the Sept. 17 report, was arrested after refusing to wear a mask and abide by other school rules, which violated a probation order that required him to maintain good behavior in school, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Jose Rivas, the family’s attorney, said the teenager’s prior record didn’t justify what he viewed as an uncalled-for action.

“Should they be arresting a 16-year-old child knowing he already has a medical condition?” he said.

In a statement, Rivas’ law firm called the arrest “government abuse” and added, “We will be seeking just and fair compensation for the illegal arrest ... and the harm that this action caused him.”

The boy’s mother told the newspaper her son has an anxiety disorder. She said he was arrested after going to the school office to ask for water because he was feeling panicky and was having trouble breathing in the mask.

“I couldn’t grasp it at first. Because of a mask?” the newspaper quoted the mother as saying. “I was just in a disbelief.” The Associated Press isn’t identifying the mother to protect the student’s identity.

A report from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office states that the boy had been instructed to obey school rules as a condition of his probation. It did not say what he was on probation for. The report said that starting on Sept. 1 he refused to obey rules, including wearing a mask and social distancing, and that he received a warning. The report said he also was caught vaping in the cafeteria.

On Sept. 17, he was seen again not wearing a mask and refused to put one on. A deputy then arrested him and brought him to a juvenile detention center. The sheriff’s office told the newspaper the arrest was for probation violations, not violations of the school district’s mask rules.

By not wearing a mask, however, he was in violation of school rules. Masks are a requirement for students and staff on all Seminole County public school campuses during the coronavirus pandemic.

School Resource Deputy Adrian Richardson warned the teen that getting in trouble at school was a violation of his probation, the report said.

The student has not returned to the school. His mother said the family is moving and that he will complete an online education program.

“He just feels like they will target him again,” she said. “It’s really taken a toll on him.”

Georgia
Judge dismisses request to send Spanish ballot applications
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Monday that sought to require Georgia officials to send absentee ballot applications in Spanish to residents of one county.

The lawsuit brought by several civil rights groups in April stems from a decision by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to send absentee ballot applications printed in English to all Georgia voters in March due to the coronavirus, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials and other groups then filed their lawsuit, saying Spanish voting materials should also be sent to Gwinnett County residents. The county is the only one in Georgia required to print election materials in both English and Spanish under federal law because of its large Spanish-speaking population.

Judge William M. Ray II wrote in his order Monday that the Georgia secretary of state’s office and the Gwinnett County elections board did not violate the federal Voting Rights Act, as the groups claimed, since people who did not receive the Spanish ballot applications still were able to get them from the county.

Ray also said the civil rights groups lacked standing to bring the case.