User:LizArchive/United States v. Oceanic

United States v. Oceanic (1985-1987) is an ongoing court case in the Supreme Court of the United States. The case is expected to have an impact on the constitutional legality of affirmative action, although not concrete ruling on the issue has been made.

Background
In 1986, Oceanic Governor Isabella Roberts signed an Executive Order mandating the creation of a state agency, the Oceanic Artisans' Collective Agency (OACA), which was instructed to, by the Order, "solely employ indigenous people and descendents of indigenous people on the management". Following the Governor of Pacifica, Robert Kennedy, alerting the acting United States Attorney General, the Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the Oceanic Commonwealth of States for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and violating the Equal Rights Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Initial Dismissal
Early on in the case, Roberts, who was defending Oceanic, submitted a Motion to Dismiss, on the grounds of Jhon Jay Pete, the acting Attorney General, illegally assuming the position, as the Vacancies Act of 1868 stimulated that an acting secretary may only be in office for a period of 120 days, no more, while Pete had assumed the office for a period over 100 days longer than that.

The Court concurred with the motion to dismiss, and threw out of the lawsuit on the grounds of the plaintiff (a) not being the Attorney General and (b) not being a citizen of Oceanic.

Upon Pete's confirmation by the U.S. Senate as Attorney General, the lawsuit was refiled.