U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

DISPARITY STUDIES AS EVIDENCE OF

DISCRIMINATION IN FEDERAL CONTRACTING

Briefing Report May 2006

U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency established by Congress in 1957. It is directed to:

Investigate complaints alleging that citizens are being deprived of their right to vote by reason of their race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or by reason of fraudulent practices.

Study and collect information relating to discrimination or a denial of equal protection of the laws under the Constitution because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice.

Appraise federal laws and policies with respect to discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice.

Serve as a national clearinghouse for information in respect to discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin.

Submit reports, findings, and recommendations to the President and Congress.

Issue public service announcements to discourage discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws.

Members of the Commission

Gerald A. Reynolds, Chairman Abigail Thernstrom, Vice Chairman Jennifer C. Braceras Peter N. Kirsanow Arlan D. Melendez Ashley L. Taylor Michael Yaki

Kenneth L. Marcus, Staff Director

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 624 Ninth Street, NW Washington, DC 20425

(202) 376-8128 voice (202) 376-8116 TTY

www.usccr.gov

This report is available on disk in ASCII Text and Microsoft Word 2003 for persons with visual impairments. Please call (202) 376-8110.

Disparity Studies as Evidence of Discrimination in Federal Contracting

A Briefing Before The United States Commission on Civil Rights Held in Washington, D.C., December 16, 2005

The final printed version of this report may contain additional Commissioner statements.

Briefing Report May 2006

iii Disparity Studies as Evidence of Discrimination

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OVERVIEW...............................................................................................................................1

Summary of Ian Ayres Statement ...................................................................................................................... 3

Summary of Constance Citros Statement ........................................................................................................... 5

Summary of Roger Cleggs Statement................................................................................................................. 7

Summary of George LaNoues Statement............................................................................................................ 8

Discussion........................................................................................................................................................ 10

Is Race-Conscious Affirmative Action an Appropriate Remedy for Discrimination? ...................................... 10

Government Remedies to Private Sector Discrimination ................................................................................ 14

The Use of Race-Neutral Alternatives ........................................................................................................... 14

How to Measure Discrimination.................................................................................................................... 15

The Methodology of Disparity Studies .......................................................................................................... 17

Individual Disparity Studies ...................................................................................................................... 17

National Disparity Studies......................................................................................................................... 20

PREPARED REMARKS OF GEORGE R. LA NOUE, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL

SCIENCE AND DIRECTOR OF THE PROJECT ON CIVIL RIGHTS AND PUBLIC

CONTRACTS, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY ............................23

Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................................... 23

Introduction...................................................................................................................................................... 24

State and Local Disparity Studies...................................................................................................................... 26

Statistics ....................................................................................................................................................... 26

Anecdotes..................................................................................................................................................... 30

Unrepresentative samples ...................................................................................................................... 30

Anonymous unverified responses .......................................................................................................... 31

Affirming pre-existing assumptions....................................................................................................... 32

Federal studies.................................................................................................................................................. 34

Urban Institute Meta-study............................................................................................................................ 35

Appendix A.................................................................................................................................................. 41

Benchmark study .......................................................................................................................................... 43

Disparity Study Conclusions............................................................................................................................. 46

Race Neutral Alternatives ................................................................................................................................. 49

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF CONSTANCE F. CITRO, DIRECTOR, COMMITTEE ON

NATIONAL STATISTICS .......................................................................................................53

Definitions ....................................................................................................................................................... 53

Methodological Issues for Disparity Studies...................................................................................................... 54

Extant Disparity Studies ................................................................................................................................... 57

Urban Institute Meta-Analysis....................................................................................................................... 57

Department of Commerce Ready, Willing, and Able Analyses ................................................................... 58

Small Business Administration Study............................................................................................................ 59

Measuring Discrimination................................................................................................................................. 60

Concluding Observations.................................................................................................................................. 60

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF IAN AYRES, WILLIAM K. TOWNSEND PROFESSOR, YALE

LAW SCHOOL ........................................................................................................................63

I. There is Credible Evidence of a Compelling Government Interest. ................................................................ 65

iv Disparity Studies as Evidence of Discrimination

II. There are Persuasive Statistical Methods for Calculating Disparity Benchmarks............................................ 66

III. The Constitutionality of the Race-Conscious Affirmative Action in Educational Admission Strengthen the

Inference that the Commerce Departments Disparity Study Provides Credible Evidence of Narrow Tailoring. .. 68

Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................... 69

THE USE OF DISPARITY STUDIES TO JUSTIFY RACIAL AND ETHNIC PREFERENCES IN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING, PREPARED STATEMENT OF ROGER CLEGG, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, CENTER FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY.71

THE COMMISSIONS FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................75

States and Localities Conducting Disparity Studies ........................................................................................... 76

National Disparity Studies ................................................................................................................................ 79

Research on Discrimination .....................................................