The Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER) filed a lawsuit accusing San Francisco of running racially discriminatory guaranteed income programs, which the organization says violate the 14th Amendment.
CFER, which is being represented by the American Civil Rights Project (ACR Project), announced that their lawsuit would challenge several different entities, including both the City and County of San Francisco as well as San Francisco Unified School District, the California Health and Human Services Agency, and the University of California San Francisco.
“Our legal challenge focuses on four unconstitutional guaranteed-income programs that violate the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” the Thursday press release stated.
The lawsuit focuses on the “Abundant Birth Project,” which the group said “provides unconditional cash supplements (up to $1,000) to Black and Pacific Islander mothers as a strategy to reduce preterm birth and improve economic outcomes for our communities.”
Another guaranteed income program highlighted in the lawsuit is the “Black Economic Equity Movement,” which would select “300 Black young adults ages 18 to 24 to receive $500 per month for one year.”
A third program, called the “Guaranteed Income for Trans People,” is also being challenged in the lawsuit. The program would provide “low-income transgender San Franciscans with $1,200 each month, up to 18 months, with priority given to Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC) applicants.”
Meanwhile, the Guaranteed Income Pilot for Artists “provides 190 artists of particular races and gender expressions monthly payments of $1,000 for up to 18 months.”
“The California Constitution unambiguously prohibits public agencies from treating individuals differently on the basis of race,” President of CFER Frank Xu stated in the press release. He also went on to argue that “these entities ignore the law and offer race-preferential programs under the disguise of equity.”
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Meanwhile, Bradley Benbrook, the ACR Project’s California co-counsel, asserted that “The California Constitution further prohibits granting ‘[any] citizen or class of citizens’ any ‘privileges or immunities not granted on the same terms to all citizens.’” He went on to add “These provisions clearly forbid public entities from choosing beneficiaries based on identitarian considerations.”
CFER previously notified government entities in San Francisco of their intent to file a lawsuit, charging in March that “It’s cartoonishly unconstitutional for San Francisco and its co-conspirators to so blatantly distribute public resources based on race.”