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Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Macy’s launches a clothing line for Black sororities, France gets a new prime minister, and California's board diversity law may be struck down, but its progress is here to stay. Have a lovely Tuesday.
- State of board diversity. Since 2018, California state law has required that public companies headquartered in the state place at least one woman on their boards of directors. Controversial at the time of its signing among those who object to government-mandated quotas, the law's results are telling: women held 32% of board seats at California-based Russell 3000 public companies by the end of 2021, compared to 16% when the law was enacted.
Despite the law's successful outcome, a judge ruled that the requirement is unconstitutional under the equal protection clause in the state's constitution, striking down the 3-year-old mandate. Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis sided with plaintiffs in a lawsuit, shepherded by the conservative organization Judicial Watch, stating that the law treats board candidates differently based on gender. That left the state responsible for proving that doing so was necessary, "narrowly tailored," and met a "compelling public interest"—a burden Duffy-Lewis ruled it didn't meet.
For those watching the case, the decision wasn't particularly surprising. Last month, a...
Civil society, for Locke, begins with a surrender. In the state of nature, anyone may punish a wrong done to the community. In society, that power passes to a common authority, and only the sovere...