The Florida Legislature's Democratic Black Caucus held a press conference Thursday to call out a new opinion by the state attorney general.
Attorney General James Uthmeier said his office will not enforce or defend affirmative action laws.
“Are Florida laws that mandate discrimination based on race by giving preferences to certain racial groups, using race-based classifications, or employing racial quotas, constitutional?" he wrote in a Monday opinion. “In short, the answer is no.”
Democrats disagreed with his take.
“This is about leveling the playing field, making sure that Floridians who look like us and the Floridians who look like Attorney General Uthmeier, have the same opportunities to succeed,” said House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa.
Democrats also said publishing the opinion on Monday was inappropriate. It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"This feels not like a neutral legal interpretation, but more like an attack, an attack on the idea that history matters, that policy can be a tool to correct past and ongoing harm,” said Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg.
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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
