ABSTRACT
Reynolds tried to end the uncertainty by pressing ahead with lawsuits that challenged preferential policies in the police departments of Detroit and New Orleans. In 1981 the city of New Orleans had entered into a lengthy and comprehensive agreement with a group of disgruntled black police officers. The judges agreed that the issues raised by affirmative action in the New Orleans Police Department should be considered by all the judges of the circuit. In 1981, nearly three-quarters of the officers in the New Orleans Police Department signed protests, and groups of white, Hispanic, and female officers went to court to challenge the New Orleans plan. Reynolds's argument in the New Orleans case was a shot across the bow of the civil rights establishment. In New Orleans, Reynolds also raised a constitutional issue. When Reynolds challenged the racial quota system in the New Orleans Police Department, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) prepared a separate brief that criticized Reynolds's legal arguments.
