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Four Federal Judges Uphold Proposition 227

Within eight weeks of the June 2, 1998 election, four separate federal judges had upheld the federal and constitutional basis of Proposition 227, requiring the immediate implementation of the measure and unanimously turning back legal challenges by the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and a number of other parties.

Northern Federal District Court Judge Charles Legge of San Francisco ruled in favor of the initiative on July 15, 1998, and his opinion was affirmed on July 31, 1998 by a two-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals.

Southern Federal District Court Judge Lourdes Baird of Los Angeles ruled in favor of the immediate implementation of the initiative in a separate challenge also decided on July 31, 1998.


MALDEF Brief

Response from attorneys representing Proposition 227

Decision by Charles Legge