Aside from constitutionally compelled remediation in schools, this Court has permitted government units to remedy prior racial discrimination only in narrow circumstances. As the Court explained, [t]he importance of this individualized consideration in the context of a race-conscious admissions program is paramount. Ibid. In a footnote the Justice added a personal mention of Justice Breyer: "Justice Breyer's good intentions, which I do not doubt, have the shelf life of Justice Breyer's tenure. Nor could it. The plurality does not seem confident as to the answer. It is hard to understand how a plan that could allow these results can be viewed as being concerned with achieving enrollment that is broadly diverse, Grutter, supra, at 329. 1, p.5 (The Fourteenth Amendment precludes a state from imposing distinctions or classifications based upon race and color alone);[Footnote 20] see also In Memoriam: Honorable Thurgood Marshall, Proceedings of the Bar and Officers of the Supreme Court of the United States, X (1993) (remarks of Judge Motley) (Marshall had a Bible to which he turned during his most depressed moments. The orders requirements reflected a (newly enlarged) school district student population of about 135,000, approximately 20% of whom were black. The government bears the burden of justifying its use of individual racial classifications. Grutter emphasized that admitting minority students for the purpose of achieving racial balance, i.e., using a quota for this purpose, is unlawful. Statement in School Comm. Post, at 28 (citing Slaughter-House Cases, 16 Wall. In reaching this conclusion, the Court did not directly address the constitutional merits of the underlying Seattle plan. These interests combine remedial, educational, and democratic objectives. In the Seattle case, the District Court granted the school district summary judgment, finding, inter alia, that its plan survived strict scrutiny on the federal constitutional claim because it was narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest. The district did not attempt to defend the proposition that anything outside its range posed the specter of exceptionality. Nor did it demonstrate in any way how the educational and social benefits of racial diversity or avoidance of racial isolation are more likely to be achieved at a school that is 50 percent white and 50 percent Asian-American, which would qualify as diverse under Seattles plan, than at a school that is 30 percent Asian-American, 25 percent African-American, 25 percent Latino, and 20 percent white, which under Seattles definition would be racially concentrated. The measures required by those cases often included race-conscious practices, such as mandatory busing and race-based restrictions on voluntary transfers. Yet neither of those briefs contains specific details like the magnitude of the claimed positive effects or the precise demographic mix at which those positive effects begin to be realized. Finally, it argues that race-neutral techniques, such as a lottery or taking into account many forms of diversity in a holistic approach, would be as effective as the racial tiebreaker. Which of the following statements offers the most accurate comparison between this case and the decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)? After preliminary rulings and an eventual victory for the plaintiffs in the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the District Court in July 1975 entered an order requiring desegregation. [Footnote 7] Although Louisville once operated a segregated school system and was subject to a Federal District Courts desegregation decree, see ante, at 7; Hampton v. Jefferson Cty. The fact that it is possible that children of group members will not be denied admission to a school based on their racebecause they choose an undersubscribed school or an oversubscribed school in which their race is an advantagedoes not eliminate the injury claimed. Thus, the democratic interest, limitless in scope and timeless in [its] ability to affect the future, id., at 276 (plurality opinion), cannot justify government race-based decisionmaking. What do the racial classifications do in these cases, if not determine admission to a public school on a racial basis? I quote the Illinois Supreme Court at length to illustrate the prevailing legal assumption at the time Swann was decided. The plan forbade transfers, however, if the transfer would lead to a school population outside the guideline range, i.e., if it would create a school where fewer than 15% or more than 50% of the students were black. We construe Brown as endorsing Mr. Justice Harlans classical statement in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U. S. 537, 539: Our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens). The last half-century has witnessed great strides toward racial equality, but we have not yet realized the promise of Brown. Eighty-four students were assigned to schools that they did not list as a choice, but 29 of those students would have been assigned to their respective school without the racial tiebreaker, and 3 were able to attend one of the oversubscribed schools due to waitlist and capacity adjustments. I next ask whether the plans before us are narrowly tailored to achieve these compelling objectives. In 2007, the United States Supreme Court struck down two local school board initiatives meant to reverse extreme racial segregation in public schools. at 315 (opinion of Powell, J. of Ed., 402 U. S., at 16far more heavily than the school districts themselves. Context matters when reviewing race-based governmental action under the Equal Protection Clause. A non-profit group, Parents Involved in Community Schools, sued the District, arguing that the racial tiebreaker violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Washington state law. On June 28, 2007, the United States Supreme Court, in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion of the court as to Parts I, II, III-A and III-C. Part I recounted the background of the plans of the two school boards. Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 Guided by these principles, the Court concluded: [W]e cannot say that a law which authorizes or even requires the separation of the two races in public conveyances is unreasonable, or more obnoxious to the Fourteenth Amendment than the acts of Congress requiring separate schools for colored children in the District of Columbia. Id., at 550551. The statistics cited in Appendix A to the dissent are not to the contrary. Thus, the school districts must demonstrate that their use of such classifications is narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest. of Los Angeles, 458 U. S. 527, 535536 (1982) ([S]tate courts of California continue to have an obligation under state law to order segregated school districts to use voluntary desegregation techniques, whether or not there has been a finding of intentional segregation. [Footnote 1] The plan allows incoming ninth graders to choose from among any of the districts high schools, ranking however many schools they wish in order of preference. The districts point to dicta in a prior opinion in which the Court suggested that, while not constitutionally mandated, it would be constitutionally permissible for a school district to seek racially balanced schools as a matter of educational policy. See Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. Federal authorities had claimedas the NAACP and the OCR did in Seattlethat Clarke County schools were segregated in law, not just in fact. At some point, the discrete injury will be remedied, and the school district will be declared unitary. Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School Dist. No. 1 More recently, the school district sent a delegation of high school students to a White Privilege Conference. See Equity and Race Relations White Privilege Conference, https://www.seattleschools. The student assignment plan of Seattle Public Schools and Jefferson County Public Schools does not meet the narrowly tailored and compelling interest requirements for a race-based assignment plan because it is used only to achieve "racial balance." At that time, about 20% or 12,000 of the districts students were black. Moreover, the effect of applying race-conscious criteria here affects potentially disadvantaged students less severely, not more severely, than the criteria at issue in Grutter. As to what is permitted, nothing in our equal protection law suggests that a State may right only those wrongs that it committed. See Brief of the States of New York, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents at 11. Instead of accommodating different good-faith visions of our country and our Constitution, todays holding upsets settled expectations, creates legal uncertainty, and threatens to produce considerable further litigation, aggravating race-related conflict. If the need for the racial classifications embraced by the school districts is unclear, even on the districts own terms, the costs are undeniable. See id., at 152 (opinion of Stewart, J.). in Davis v. County School Board, O.T. 1952, No. 2002). The Seattle school district has tried a variety of plans over the past several decades to prevent the de-facto segregation that would occur if students were assigned to schools on a purely geographic basis. 2d 1, 5 (1965); Jackson v. Pasadena City School Dist., 59 Cal. In his concurrence, Kennedy differed with the plurality because, he found, the goal of obtaining a diverse student body is a compelling state interest. Seattle undertook its integration efforts in response to the filing of a federal lawsuit and as a result of its settlement of a segregation complaint filed with the federal OCR. To the contrary, Jefferson County in its briefing has explained how and when it employs these classifications only in terms so broad and imprecise that they cannot withstand strict scrutiny. In Louisville, a federal district court found that school segregation reflected pre-Brown state laws separating the races. Most white families live north of the downtown area where four high schools Ballard, Ingraham, Nathan Hale, and Roosevelt are located. 663, 664 (1962) (same); W. Vaughn, Schools for All: The Blacks and Public Education in the South, 18651877, pp. On the matter of stare decisis, I submit that the duration of the challenged practice, while it is persuasive, is not controlling. How could the plurality adopt a constitutional standard that would hold unconstitutional large numbers of race-conscious integration plans adopted by numerous school boards over the past 50 years while remaining true to this Courts desegregation precedent? The districts argue that other factors, such as student preferences, affect assignment decisions under their plans, but under each plan when race comes into play, it is decisive by itself. 7045 and 7291, (WD Ky., June 16, 1978), pp. 05908, p. 511. Justice Thomas goes on to call out the dissent for adopting segregationist reasoning advanced in Brown, particularly its insistence that the Court should defer to local school board knowledge, expertise, and judgment. 1995). Opposition to Writ of Certiorari at 2021. If the plans survive this strict review, they would survive less exacting review a fortiori. appeals for the sixth circuit. It is possible that schools will be able to extend these race-conscious programs to school sports teams, club memberships, classroom assignments, and so on. First, the school districts plans serve compelling interests and are narrowly tailored on any reasonable definition of those terms. Narrow tailoring requires "serious, good faith consideration of workable race-neutral alternatives", Grutter, supra, at 339, 123 S. Ct. 2325, 156 L. Ed. Jefferson County phrases its interest as racial integration, but integration certainly does not require the sort of racial proportionality reflected in its plan. of Ed., 476 U. S. 267, 320 (1986) (Stevens, J., dissenting), in turn quoting Fullilove, 448 U. S., at 547 (Stevens, J., dissenting); brackets and citation omitted). In Louisville, a federal court entered a remedial decree. The District contends that its plan used the narrowest possible means to achieve is educational goals. Assertions of general societal discrimination are plainly insufficient. In both cities plaintiffs filed lawsuits claiming unconstitutional segregation. And it is a context in which the school boards plans simply set race-conscious limits at the outer boundaries of a broad range. Franklin in 20052006 was 48.9 percent Asian-American, 33.5 percent African-American, 6.6 percent Latino, 10.2 percent Caucasian, and 0.8 percent Native-American. 2d 304. 515 U. S., at 125 (Thomas, J., concurring). It was the promise of true racial equalitynot as a matter of fine words on paper, but as a matter of everyday life in the Nations cities and schools. Id., at 8391. First, it contends that the schools were already diverse; in particular it notes that the non-white population was made up of students from varying backgrounds such as Asian, Hispanic, and African-American, making them diverse even when there was not a significant white population. The present cases are not governed by Grutter. Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. [Footnote 18]. The procedures in Gratz placed much less reliance on race than do the plans at issue here. [citation needed], The 414 split makes PICS somewhat similar to the 1978 Bakke case, which held that affirmative action was unconstitutional in the case directly before the Court. The segregationists in Brown embraced the arguments the Court endorsed in Plessy. He concluded by saying that the current Court has greatly changed and that previously: "[I]t wasmore faithful to Brown and more respectful of our precedent than it is today. Jefferson County Public Schools operates the public school system in metropolitan Louisville, Kentucky. 2d 304 (quoting Bakke, supra, at 315, 98 S. Ct. 2733, 57 L. Ed. This argument is unavailing; the groups members have children in all levels of the districts schools, and the complaint sought declaratory and injunctive relief on behalf of members whose elementary and middle school children may be denied admission to the high schools of their choice in the future. Because the referendum would have prohibited the adoption of a school-integration plan that involved mandatory busing, and because it would have imposed a special burden on school integration plans (plans that sought to integrate previously segregated schools), the Court found it unconstitutional. Even as to race, the plans here employ only a limited notion of diversity, viewing race exclusively in white/nonwhite terms in Seattle and black/other terms in Jefferson County. 2d 750 (opinion of Powell, J. He also chastises Justice Breyer for saying that the Court silently overruled Grutter with this case and that the method that Breyer applies to this case is that of "the ends justify the means". The following notice, published in a Louisville newspaper in 1976, gives a sense of how the districts race-based busing plan operated in practice: Louisville Courier Journal, June 18, 1976 (reproduced in J. Wilkinson, From Brown to Bakke: The Supreme Court and School Integration 19541978, p. 176 (1979)). The next Term, we accordingly stated that full compliance with Brown I required school districts to achieve a system of determining admission to the public schools on a nonracial basis. Brown II, 349 U. S., at 300301 (emphasis added). See post, at 62. To McDaniel? Twenty-one elementary schools were between roughly 90% and 100% white. With this explanation I concur in the judgment of the Court. Click the card to flip Definition 1 / 8 Seattle School District instituted a "tiebreaker" plan which placed determined student placements on the consideration of a predetermined racial balance The district, nevertheless, has failed to make an adequate showing in at least one respect. ), appeal dismd for want of a substantial federal question, 484 U. S. 804 (1987). 05915, at 4, and it fails to explain the discrepancy. The idea that if race is the problem, race is the instrument with which to solve it cannot be accepted as an analytical leap forward. A. Croson Co., 488 U. S. 469 (1989); Shaw v. Reno, 509 U. S. 630 (1993); Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peńa, 515 U. S. 200 (1995); Grutter, supra; Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U. S. 244 (2003); Johnson v. California, 543 U. S. 499 (2005). Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School - Quizlet The Constitution is color-blind. 2, pp. See also R. Fischer, The Segregation Struggle in Louisiana 186277, p. 51 (1974) (describing the use of race-conscious remedies); Harlan, Desegregation in New Orleans Public Schools During Reconstruction, 67 Am. of Ed., 402 U. S. 1, 810 (1971); see also Croson, 488 U. S., at 519 (Kennedy, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment) (noting that racial classifications may be the only adequate remedy after a judicial determination that a State or its instrumentality has violated the Equal Protection Clause). To Harris? in McFarland I, at 190 (Dec. 8, 2003) (Q. Today, almost 50 years later, attitudes toward race in this Nation have changed dramatically. 935, 937 (1989) (calling Brown the Supreme Courts greatest anti-discrimination decision); Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae in Brown, 347 U. S. 483; Dudziak, Brown as a Cold War Case, 91 J. The Seattle school districts Website formerly contained the following definition of cultural racism: Those aspects of society that overtly and covertly attribute value and normality to white people and whiteness, and devalue, stereotype, and label people of color as other, different, less than, or render them invisible. in No. Racial imbalance is not segregation. Rather, race-based government decisionmaking is categorically prohibited unless narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest. Yesterday, the plans under review were lawful. 1617. See Johnson v. California, 543 U. S. 499, 505506 (2005); ante, at 11. Jefferson County has failed to present any evidence that it considered alternatives, even though the district already claims that its goals are achieved primarily through means other than the racial classifications. Similarly, Jefferson Countys expert referred to the importance of having at least 20 percent minority group representation for the group to be visible enough to make a difference, and noted that small isolated minority groups in a school are not likely to have a strong effect on the overall school. App. Second, as Grutter specified, [c]ontext matters when reviewing race-based governmental action under the Equal Protection Clause. 539 U. S., at 327 (citing Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U. S. 339, 343344 (1960)). 4, p.86 ([Y]ou cannot talk about this problem just in a vacuum in the manner of a law school discussion), with post, at 57 (The Founders meant the Constitution as a practical document). As to the dissent, the general conclusions upon which it relies have no principled limit and would result in the broad acceptance of governmental racial classifications in areas far afield from schooling. . The Chief Justice states that the Massachusetts racial imbalance Act did not require express classifications. The plans here are more narrowly tailored than the law school admissions program there at issue. The broad interest in racial diversity in education generally could potentially filter through all facets of the school, and even into elementary education. What Led to Desegregation Busingand Did It Work? - HISTORY 2841. It also cited to Justice Powells opinion in Bakke, approving of the limited use of race-conscious criteria in a university-admissions affirmative action case. He made it clear that "To be forced to live under a state-mandated racial label is inconsistent with the dignity of individuals in our society". See Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U. S. 339, 343344 (1960) (admonishing that, in dealing with claims under broad provisions of the Constitution, which derive content by an interpretive process of inclusion and exclusion, it is imperative that generalizations, based on and qualified by the concrete situations that gave rise to them, must not be applied out of context in disregard of variant controlling facts). Today we enjoy a society that is remarkable in its openness and opportunity. The reasons for rejecting a motives test for racial classifications are clear enough. Id. In 1996, the school board adopted the present plan, which began in 1999. The memorandum of agreement between Seattle and OCR, of course, contains no admission by Seattle that such segregation ever existed or was ongoing at the time of the agreement, and simply reflects a desire to avoid the incovenience [sic] and expense of a formal OCR investigation, which OCR was obligated under law to initiate upon the filing of such a complaint. 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education. of Ed., 102 F.Supp. 1, 458 U. S., at 472473. Cf. The Chief Justice rejects the conclusion that the racial classifications at issue here should be viewed differently than others, because they do not impose burdens on one race alone and do not stigmatize or exclude. The Current Lawsuit, 2003 to the Present. The judgments of the Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Ninth Circuits are reversed, and the cases are Although no such distinction is apparent in the Fourteenth Amendment, the dissent would constitutionalize todays faddish social theories that embrace that distinction. Ante, at 6; ante, at 1516 (opinion of the Court). To do this as an educational policy is within the broad discretionary powers of school authorities. 402 U. S., at 16. Primary and secondary schools are where the education of this Nations children begins, where each of us begins to absorb those values we carry with us to the end of our days. Both cities once tried to achieve more integrated schools by relying solely upon measures such as redrawn district boundaries, new school building construction, and unrestricted voluntary transfers. See 539 U. S., at 320. Ed. It is the height of arrogance for Members of this Court to assert blindly that their motives are better than others. In fact, they are even more narrowly tailored than the Grutter plan, which withstood strict scrutiny. "[5], According to Kennedy, "The cases here were argued upon the assumption, and come to us on the premise, that the discrimination in question did not result from de jure actions." in No. 539 U. S., at 324325 (internal quotation marks omitted). 2005). See Part I, supra, at 221. Although much depends on the outcome, the rationale of the Court is equally important in this case and to the future policy of public schools. Instead, it selectively relies on inapplicable precedent and even dicta while dismissing contrary holdings, alters and misapplies our well-established legal framework for assessing equal protection challenges to express racial classifications, and greatly exaggerates the consequences of todays decision. The District also contends that the racial tiebreaker was necessary because other race-neutral activities were inadequate to achieve their compelling interests. The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting. Wash. Rev. Thus, the dissent argues that [e]ach plan embodies the results of local experience and community consultation. Post, at 47. In many such instances, the contentious force of legal challenges to these classifications, meritorious or not, would displace earlier calm); post, at 65 (Indeed, the consequences of the approach the Court takes today are serious. The Court explained that [c]ontext matters in applying strict scrutiny, and repeatedly noted that it was addressing the use of race in the context of higher education. Grutter, supra, at 327, 328, 334. in No. v. Bakke, 438 U. S. 265 (1978).) [Footnote 14]. 539 U. S., at 351352, 353. v. Swann, 402 U. S. 43, 45 (1971), this Court, citing Swann, restated the point. At the other extreme, Santa Clara, California had a relatively even racial distribution prior to its 1979 desegregation plan. The Seattle Plan: Mandatory Busing, 1978 to 1988. The fact that those children may not be denied such admission based on their race because of undersubscription or oversubscription that benefits them does not eliminate the injury claimed. surrounding their adoption, are in some respects quite different. Voluntary cessation does not moot a case or controversy unless subsequent events ma[ke] it absolutely clear that the allegedly wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur, Friends of Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc., 528 U. S. 167, 189 (2000) (quoting United States v. Concentrated Phosphate Export Assn., Inc., 393 U. S. 199, 203 (1968) (internal quotation marks omitted)), a heavy burden that Seattle has clearly not met. Seattle argues that Parents Involved lacks standing because its current members claimed injuries are not imminent and are too speculative in that, even if the district maintains its current plan and reinstitutes the racial tiebreaker, those members will only be affected if their children seek to enroll in a high school that is oversubscribed and integration positive. See, e.g., Springfield School Comm. For instance, students who attend Franklin and Ballard will receive metro passes rather than bus service. v. Brinkman, 433 U. S. 406, 413 (1977); Dayton Bd. It predicts that todays decision threaten[s] the validity of [h]undreds of state and federal statutes and regulations. Post, at 61; see also post, at 2728. By 1991, the board had concluded that assigning elementary school students to two or more schools during their elementary school years had proved educationally unsound and, if continued, would undermine Kentuckys newly adopted Education Reform Act.
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