Opinion

United States v. Board of Education of Bessemer

  • 417 F.2d 846
Court
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Filed
Jul 1, 1969
Status
Published
Author
Bell
On the bench
Bell
Cited by
1 cases
Authority
More cited than 18.4%

The opinion

BELL, Circuit Judge

(concurring specially) :

I concur in the opinion and the result thereof except to the extent, if any, that the decisions of this court cited therein may exceed the requirements laid down by the Supreme Court in Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, *848 Virginia, 391 U.S. 430 , 88 S.Ct. 1689 , 20 L.Ed.2d 716 (1968); Raney v. Board of Education of Gould, Arkansas, 391 U.S. 443 , 88 S.Ct. 1697 , 20 L.Ed.2d 727 (1968); Monroe v. Board of Commissioners of City of Jackson, Tennessee, 391 U.S. 450 , 88 S.Ct. 1700 , 20 L.Ed.2d 733 (1968), to-wit: that dual school systems be disestablished. I am in fundamental disagreement with the approach of an appellate court stipulating the details of transition plans where couched in terms of constantly escalating interim demands. The specter of escalation, with no end in sight, retards the disestablishment process.

Congress has never acted as it could have under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to set uniform standards for disestablishing dual school systems. Meanwhile, no court has defined “disestablishment”. My view continues to be that school systems are entitled to know the ultimate standard. United States v. Jefferson County Board of Education, 5 Cir., 1967, 380 F.2d 385 , dissenting opinion at p. 413.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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