In effect, we may well have ended desegregation legislatively. It would seem that very little desegregation actually occurred between
Brown and congressional intervention. Gerald N. Rosenberg,
The Hollow Hope 433 (2d ed. 2008). On this view, the courts need the backing of the political branches to effectively implement a social agenda. I'll admit that I haven't carefully considered the issue; And certainly,
Brown may have helped get the civil rights movement off the ground. But to ignore Rosenberg's thesis altogether is indefensible.
Anyway, the issue here is not whether the California Supreme Court's interpretation of the California constitution was right or wrong. It's the extent to which the California constitution may be altered by initiative.
