Florida State Government

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued a formal legal opinion declaring that Florida statutes requiring race‑based state action — including racial preferences, race‑based classifications or quotas — are 'presumptively unconstitutional' under the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and Article I, section 2 of the Florida Constitution. In the opinion, released Monday as the state marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Uthmeier writes that 'racial discrimination is wrong' and that enforcing such provisions would itself violate equal‑protection guarantees, so his office 'will not defend or enforce any of these discriminatory provisions.' While the Fox report does not list specific statutes, Florida’s code contains various race‑conscious provisions in areas like contracting and programs historically justified as remedial. Uthmeier, a former chief of staff to Gov. Ron DeSantis whom DeSantis appointed as attorney general last year, is effectively announcing an enforcement posture that invites challenges to any remaining affirmative‑action‑style state laws after the Supreme Court’s 2023 college‑admissions ruling. The move places Florida’s top legal office squarely in the camp arguing that virtually all explicit racial classifications by government are unconstitutional, and signals to agencies, universities and contractors that the state will not back them if they rely on such provisions.