US District Judge David Lawson of the Eastern District of Michigan has ruled that the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University can delay until July 1, 2007 implementing Proposal 2, an amendment to the Michigan Constitution banning affirmative action in public employment, public education and state contracting. Lawson's ruling, which came in a lawsuit filed just days after the amendment's passage, gives the universities time to complete the 2006-2007 admissions cycle under current procedures. Michigan voters approved  the constitutional amendment Nov. 7, and it was expected to take effect later this week. The Center for Individual Rights immediately criticized the ruling, and filed a motion seeking an emergency hearing to intervene in the lawsuit so the group can challenge Tuesday's ruling. AP has more.

In addition, a coalition of civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Detroit Branch of the NAACP filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of Proposal 2 based on the US Supreme Court's 2003 ruling that the federal constitution permits the University of Michigan to consider race as a factor in the admissions process. The Supreme Court upheld the University law school admissions policy, while rejecting the more rigid undergraduate admissions system as discriminatory.