Northeastern Florida Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America v. City of Jacksonville, Florida, et al. (508 U.S. 656)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 14, 1993 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 508 U.S. 656 · 113 S. Ct. 2297
- Decided
- June 14, 1993
- Term
- October Term 1992
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Thomas
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court. A Jacksonville, Florida, ordinance accords preferential treatment to certain minority-owned businesses in the award of city contracts. In this case we decide whether, in order to have standing to challenge the ordinance, an association of contractors is required to show that one of its members would have received a contract absent the ordinance. We hold that it is not. I A In 1984, respondent Jacksonville enacted an ordinance entitled “Minority Business Enterprise Participation,” which required that 10% of the amount spent on city contracts be set aside each fiscal year for so-called “Minority Business Enterprises” (MBE’s). City of Jacksonville Purchasing Code §§ 126.604(a), 126.605(a) (1988). An MBE was defined as a business whose ownership was at least 51% “minority” or female, § 126.603(a), and a “minority” was in turn defined as a person who is or considers himself to be black, Spanish-speaking, Oriental, Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, or handicapped, § 126.603(b). Once projects were earmarked for MBE bidding by the city’s chief purchasing officer, they were “deemed reserved for minority business enterprises only.” §§ 126.604(c), 126.605(c). Under the ordinance, “[mjathematical certainty [was] not required in determining the amount of the set aside,” but the chief purchasing officer was required to “make every attempt to come as…
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