BILL NUMBER:  SB 185
  VETOED	DATE: 10/08/2011




To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am returning Senate Bill 185 without my signature.

I wholeheartedly agree with the goal of this legislation.
Proposition 209 should be interpreted to allow UC and CSU to consider
race and other relevant factors in their admissions policies to the
extent permitted under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States
Constitution.  In fact, I have submitted briefs in my capacities as
both Governor and Attorney General strongly urging the courts to
adopt such an interpretation.

But while I agree with the goal of this legislation, I must return
the bill without my signature.  Our constitutional system of
separation of powers requires that the courts -- not the Legislature
-- determine the limits of Proposition 209.  Indeed, there is already
a court case pending in the 9th Circuit against the State and the UC
on the same issues addressed in this bill.  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.

Sincerely,



Edmund G. Brown Jr.