San Francisco Superior Court Judge Joseph Quinn ruled last week that a lawsuit challenging the city’s race-based reparations fund is premature, sustaining a demurrer against the suit.
A demurrer is an objection stating that the evidence presented was not sufficient to proceed for a review by the judge.
“We are disappointed by the Superior Court’s ruling, but remain undeterred. The government cannot use taxpayer money to administer funds for programs that discriminate on the basis of race. The next step will be to either amend the complaint or appeal,” a Pacific Legal Foundation spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
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Quinn also granted the Pacific Legal Foundation leave to amend, giving them a chance to fix any errors in their case.
The Pacific Legal Foundation, several San Francisco residents, and the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation sued San Francisco, challenging an ordinance that establishes a fund for Black residents.
The lawsuit alleges that the ordinance discriminates on the basis of race because it allows taxpayer money to be funneled into the fund. The plaintiffs said a win would protect taxpayers from supporting a government-run, race-based program and establish boundaries for other cities implementing similar policies.
Quinn was reportedly not convinced by claims that the reparations plan is discriminatory, stating that there is not enough evidence yet to determine if the use of the program would have racial implications.
“Both the United States and California Constitutions forbid this,” the nonprofit says in its complaint. “Government may not allocate benefits, opportunities or burdens according to race or lineage.”
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“This is a taxpayer standing challenge at the pleading stage against an ordinance that assigns a public agency, a taxpayer-funded agency, with the responsibility of administering a fund for an unlawful purpose,” said Andrew Quinio, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation.
“How do you know that?” Quinn asked, pushing back on the claim that reparations would be distributed unlawfully.
According to Courthouse News, “Quinn and Quinio had a rousing back-and-forth about taxpayer standing and other issues. Quinn asked whether ‘a possibility that something race-conscious is going to happen’ was enough to bring a claim.”
“Quinio said yes, it was sufficient,” the outlet reported.
“‘No, it’s not,” Quinn replied.
“‘There’s no authority for that.’ He noted that if that were true, ‘then we would have thousands of taxpayer actions, challenging all kinds of laws that citizens disagree with because something might happen under that law.’”
Quinn reportedly said that, provided that the plan has one race-neutral option, the plaintiffs would need to show how the ordinance was unlawful in every application it could potentially have to adequately challenge it.
Quinn was appointed by former Democratic California Governor Jerry Brown.
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Democratic Mayor Daniel Lurie in December signed an ordinance that creates a reparations fund that could one day grant each of the city’s eligible Black residents up to $5 million in reparations for alleged historic discrimination and displacement.
The ordinance, passed by the Board of Supervisors in December, was signed by Lurie two days before Christmas. It established the legal framework for the fund but did not allocate funds or guarantee payments.
The fund can be financed with private donations, foundations and other non-city sources. Any taxpayer-funded reparations payouts would require separate legislation, an identified funding source and mayoral approval.
