Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court Challenging the Constitutionality of the 8(a) Program Filed by Rothe Development, Inc.

By: Christine V. Williams on 04/21/2017

Rothe Development, Inc. (Rothe), has filed a Petition to be heard on appeal in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.  Rothe is challenging the Constitutionality of the 8(a) Program, alleging the program is race based, making it subject to a very high level of review, which it does not pass, according to Rothe’s argument.  The D.C. Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, strongly rejected Rothe’s argument and found the 8(a) Program was not race based but the 8(a) Program uses facially race neutral terms of eligibility to identify individuals victims of discrimination, prejudice, or bias, without presuming that members of certain racial, ethnic, or cultural groups qualify as such.

Since the 8(a) Program uses race-neutral terms, it is not race based and subject to such a high level of scrutiny (whether or not it would survive was decided by a lower court that it would, in fact, survive that challenge).  Rather, the 8(a) Program as not being race-based, according the D.C. Court of Appeals, is subject to rational review, which it passed.

Here is Rothe’s 191 page Petition for Certiorari: Rothe petition for Cert final