Following oral argument on February 11, 2004, a unanimous California Supreme Court held not only that the Insurance Commissioner has the power to collect “redlining data” from insurers, but that the public has an absolute right to obtain that data upon request. The ruling was in a lawsuit filed by Public Advocates, State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. Garamendi. This groundbreaking ruling at last made it possible to begin to stamp out an epidemic of insurance redlining that long deprived families and businesses in low-income communities of a basic necessity, without which (in the words of the President’s National Advisory Council on Insurance), “[n]ew housing cannot be constructed,” businesses “cannot … survive,” and workers cannot legally drive to work.  From 1991 through 1994, Public Advocates worked hard to successfully establish comprehensive anti-redlining regulations—the first of their kind in the nation. These regulations forced insurers of automobiles, homes, and small businesses to disclose annually where they were and were not serving low-income, minority, and underserved communities across California.