# Gilliam v. School Board of the City of Hopewell

> Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · April 7, 1965 · 345 F.2d 325

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8872204

## Case

- **Full name:** Renee Patrice GILLIAM and Reuben Lemuel Gilliam, Jr., infants, by Reuben L. Gilliam and Joy T. Gilliam, their father and mother and next friends, and all others of the v. SCHOOL BOARD OF the CITY OF HOPEWELL, VIRGINIA, and Charles W. Smith, Division Superintendent of Schools of the City of Hopewell, Virginia, (two cases)
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- **Decided:** April 7, 1965
- **Citations:** 345 F.2d 325
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Sobeloffbell
- **Judges:** Bell, Bryan, Haynsworth, Sobeloff
- **Cited by:** 3 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8872204

## Opinion text

SOBELOFF and J. SPENCER BELL, Circuit Judges
(concurring separately).
The neighborhood school concept is' a legitimate one, and insofar as zone boundaries are drawn without racial discrimination along natural geographical lines we agree that they may be accepted as valid. We are conscious, however, that the size and location of a school building may determine the character of the neighborhood it serves. In applying the neighborhood school concept, the School Board, therefore, must keep in mind its paramount duty to afford equal educational opportunity to all children without discrimination; otherwise school building plans may be employed to perpetuate and promote segregation.
We also note the reservation contained in the opinion of the court in respect to the possible misuse of the transfer plan, and assume that the District Court will be alert to prevent abuses. With these considerations in mind and subject to the views expressed more fully in our separate opinion in the Richmond case decided this day, we concur in the judgment of the court.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/8872204. Public record. Not legal advice.