A federal appeals court has upheld a California ballot measure banning affirmative action in admissions to state colleges and universities

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a legal challenge minority students had filed against Proposition 209, the 1996 initiative approved by California voters, which argued that the law discriminates against minority students in admissions to California universities. The three-judge panel said that the court was bound by a 1997 9th Circuit ruling that upheld the affirmative-action ban. The lawsuit, filed by the liberal group By Any Means Necessary on behalf of more than 40 black and Hispanic students, argued in part that minority students in some areas are unable to compete effectively for slots to the University of California system because their high-school programs offer insufficient preparation.