Another brief claims that school desegregation has a modest positive impact on the achievement of African-American students. App. 05908, at 257a (Q. And each plans use of race-conscious elements is diminished compared to the use of race in preceding integration plans. In doing so, it distorts precedent, it misapplies the relevant constitutional principles, it announces legal rules that will obstruct efforts by state and local governments to deal effectively with the growing resegregation of public schools, it threatens to substitute for present calm a disruptive round of race-related litigation, and it undermines Browns promise of integrated primary and secondary education that local communities have sought to make a reality. [S]chool authorities, the Court said, have wide discretion in formulating school policy, and . Perhaps recognizing as much, the dissent argues that the social science evidence is strong enough to permit a democratically elected school board reasonably to determine that this interest is a compelling one. Post, at 38. That Swanns legal statement should find such broad acceptance is not surprising. Although the Constitution almost always forbids the former, it is significantly more lenient in respect to the latter. Pp. See 377 F.3d 949, 10051006 (CA9 2004) (Parents Involved VI) (Graber, J., dissenting). General claims that past school segregation affected such varied societal trends are too amorphous a basis for imposing a racially classified remedy, Wygant, 476 U. S., at 276 (plurality opinion), because [i]t is sheer speculation how decades-past segregation in the school system might have affected these trends, see Croson, 488 U. S., at 499. of Ed., 476 U. S. 267, 316 (1986) (same). 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). Justice Kennedy asserts that the dissent must "brush aside two concepts of central importance" to uphold the racial classification in the case. Regardless of its name, however, the interest at stake possesses three essential elements. And it thereby required, for example, all fourth grade students from the previously black and previously white schools first to attend together what would now be a mixed fourth grade at one of the school buildings and then the next year to attend what would now be a mixed fifth grade at the other school building. Compare post, at 3, 2228, with Brief for Respondents in No. Each plan embodies the results of local experience and community consultation. 417, 428429 287 N.E. 2d 438, 447448 (1972). See, e.g., App. 1961) (If men were angels, no government would be necessary). The classification of applicants by race upheld in Grutter was only as part of a highly individualized, holistic review, 539 U. S., at 337. In 2001, the district adopted its plan classifying students as black or other in order to make certain elementary school assignments and to rule on transfer requests. See, e.g., Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. 5. 2. For the plurality now to insist as it does, ante, at 2728, that these school districts ought to have said so officially is either to ask for the superfluous (if they need only make explicit what is implicit) or to demand the impossible (if they must somehow provide more proof that there is no hypothetical other plan that could work as well as theirs). Id. When a court subjects governmental action to strict scrutiny, it cannot construe ambiguities in favor of the State. The petitioner in the Louisville case received a letter from the school board informing her that her kindergartener would not be allowed to attend the school of petitioners choosing because of the childs race. See, e.g., Swann, 402 U. S., at 2425; North Carolina Bd. Id. 51, p. 349 (J. Cooke ed. in No. A further 16% were assigned to a school they had not listed. 1, 551 U.S. 701, 127 S.Ct. It applied that label to 26 schools, including 4 high schoolsCleveland (72.8% minority), Franklin (76.6% minority), Garfield (78.4% minority), and Rainier Beach (58.9% minority). 426 F.3d 1162, 1166 (9th Cir. 1, supra, at 461; Complaint and Motion to Dismiss or Affirm in Seattle School Dist. See Welch 8391. Id. See, e.g., North Carolina Bd. In Seattle, then, the benefits of racial diversity require enrollment of at least 31 percent white students; in Jefferson County, at least 50 percent. ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI See also San Antonio Independent School Dist. Bd. By contrast, Croson notes that racial classifications are permitted only "as a last resort".[30]. 294 F.3d 1084 (9th Cir. That is, it is not in all circumstances strict in theory, but fatal in fact. Id., at 237 (quoting Fullilove v. Klutznick, 448 U. S., at 519 (Marshall, J., concurring in judgment)). D (collecting citations of state and federal cases [w]hich [e]nunciate the [p]rinciple that [s]tate [l]aws [p]roviding for [r]acial [s]egregation in the [p]ublic [s]chools do not [c]onflict with the Fourteenth Amendment). Does it insist upon especially strong evidence supporting inclusion of multiple minority groups in an otherwise lawful government minority-assistance program? of Ed. All this is true enough in the contexts in which these statements were madegovernment contracting, voting districts, allocation of broadcast licenses, and electing state officersbut when it comes to using race to assign children to schools, history will be heard. For the reasons explained above, the records in these cases do not demonstrate that either school boards plan is supported by an interest in remedying past discrimination. I shall consequently ask whether the school boards in Seattle and Louisville adopted these plans to serve a compelling governmental interest and, if so, whether the plans are narrowly tailored to achieve that interest. & Rodgers, Coercion to Compliance: Southern School Districts and School Desegregation Guidelines, 38 J. In other words, it will always be important for students to learn cooperation among the races. faqs.htm; see generally Westneat, School Districts Obsessed with Race, Seattle Times, Apr. The reason is obvious: In Seattle, where the overall student population is 41% white, permitting 85% white enrollment at a single school would make it much more likely that other schools would have very few white students, whereas in Jefferson County, with a 60% white enrollment, one school with 85% white students would be less likely to skew enrollments elsewhere. By this term, I mean the school districts interest in eliminating school-by-school racial isolation and increasing the degree to which racial mixture characterizes each of the districts schools and each individual students public school experience. See Part IB, supra. 4 Hampton v. Jefferson Cty. A compelling interest exists in avoiding racial isolation, an interest that a school district, in its discretion and expertise, may choose to pursue. of Jefferson Cty., Nos. . v. Swann, 402 U. S. 43, 4546 (1971). Nathan Hales 20052006 enrollment was 17.3 percent Asian-American, 10.7 percent African-American, 8 percent Latino, 61.5 percent Caucasian, and 2.5 percent Native-American. None of the considerations trumpeted by the dissent is relevant to the constitutionality of the school boards race-based plans because no contextual detailor collection of contextual details, post, at 222can provide refuge from the principle that under our Constitution, the government may not make distinctions on the basis of race. Adarand, 515 U. S., at 240 (Thomas, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment). First, in an open choice district like that in Seattle, using race as an isolated factor for admission may deny some students the opportunity to attend the school of their choice, thereby burdening those families affected. of Ed., 402 U. S. 1, 6 (1971); see also Monroe v. Board of Commrs of Jackson, 391 U. S. 450, 452 (1968). Agencies Regs. McFarland I, supra, at 837. The Founders meant the Constitution as a practical document that would transmit its basic values to future generations through principles that remained workable over time. Race may be one component of that diversity, but other demographic factors, plus special talents and needs, should also be considered. 05908, at 162a. 264, 399400 (1821) (Marshall, C. And as I explained above, the school districts have no remedial interest in pursuing these programs. See App. v. Barksdale, 348 F.2d 261, 266 (CA1 1965). And, as an aspiration, Justice Harlans axiom must command our assent. All of those plans represent local efforts to bring about the kind of racially integrated education that Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U. S. 483 (1954), long ago promisedefforts that this Court has repeatedly required, permitted, and encouraged local authorities to undertake. Miller v. Johnson, 515 U. S. 900, 920 (1995), and I shall subject the tailoring of their plans to rigorous judicial review. Grutter, 539 U. S., at 388 (Kennedy, J., dissenting). 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. 1, a case decided by the United States Supreme Court in 2007, established the Seattle School District's racial tiebreaker plan as unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The groups members have children in the districts elementary, middle, and high schools, App. . 2, p. 83 (It [South Carolina] is confident of its good faith and intention to produce equality for all of its children of whatever race or color. The histories also indicate the complexity of the tasks and the practical difficulties that local school boards face when they seek to achieve greater racial integration. The State must seek alternatives to the classification and differential treatment of individuals by race, at least absent some extraordinary showing not present here. This will be weighed against the consequences of using race as an isolated factor in classifying students. [Footnote 9] The Sixth Circuit affirmed in a per curiam opinion relying upon the reasoning of the District Court, concluding that a written opinion would serve no useful purpose. McFarland v. Jefferson Cty. Court-Imposed Guidelines and Busing, 1972 to 1991. After decades of vibrant life, they would all, under the pluralitys logic, be written out of the law. in No. 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). Id. The fact that racial discrimination was preferable to the relevant communities was irrelevant to the Brown Court. Hist. This interest, the Court said, can be achieved by considering the student overall, not just his or her race, and the contribution he or she can make to the schools diversity. 2841. This exacting scrutiny has proven automatically fatal in most cases. 3, p.1617 (It is by such practical considerations based on experience rather than by theoretical inconsistencies that the question of equal protection is to be answered (quoting Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. New York, 336 U. S. 110 (1949))); Brief for Appellees on Reargument in Davis v. County School Board, O.T. 1953, No. [R]acial paternalism and its unintended consequences can be as poisonous and pernicious as any other form of discrimination. Adarand, supra, at 241 (opinion of Thomas, J.). summary.aspx?schoolId=1104&reportLevel=School&orgLinkId=1104&yrs=; The Grutter Court expressly limited its holdingdefining a specific type of broad-based diversity and noting the unique context of higher educationbut these limitations were largely disregarded by the lower courts in extending Grutter to the sort of classifications at issue here. Initial plans were implemented in Mobile, Alabama and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and in a number of other southern districts in the face of total racial segregation. Justice Breyer, with whom Justice Stevens, Justice Souter, and Justice Ginsburg join, dissenting. Ed. 05915, at 82. (a)Because racial classifications are simply too pernicious to permit any but the most exact connection between justification and classification, Fullilove v. Klutznick, 448 U. S. 448, 537 (Stevens, J., dissenting), governmental distributions of burdens or benefits based on individual racial classifications are reviewed under strict scrutiny, e.g., Johnson v. California, 543 U. S. 499, 505506. See 448 U. S., at 539. past cases have est. The student population of the school district is approximately 40% white, 60% non-white. School districts that had engaged in de jure segregation had an affirmative constitutional duty to desegregate; those that were de facto segregated did not. (2000 ed., Supp. 1 Hampton v. Jefferson Cty., Bd. See Part IIB, infra. The respondents raised this issue in their brief opposing the grant of certiorari. [Footnote 17] Instead, the dissent suggests that some combination of the development of these plans over time, the difficulty of the endeavor, and the good faith of the districts suffices to demonstrate that these stark and controlling racial classifications are constitutional. App. There is a cruel irony in The Chief Justices reliance on our decision in Brown v. Board of Education, 349 U. S. 294 (1955). http: //www.seattleschools.org/area/siso/disprof/2005/DP05 all.pdf. Dunbar is by no means an isolated example. . See Welch 8391. See ante, at 1112, 3132, n.16, 3435 (citing Adarand, supra, at 227; Johnson v. California, 543 U. S. 499, 505 (2005); Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U. S. 306, 326 (2003)). See Swann, supra, at 2526; Missouri v. Jenkins, 515 U. S. 70, 116 (1995) (Thomas, J., concurring). The new plan permitted each student to choose the school he or she wished to attend, subject to race-based constraints. 394, 401403 (1994) (hereinafter Dawkins & Braddock); Wells & Crain, Perpetuation Theory and the Long-Term Effects of School Desegregation, 64 Rev. ante, at 1517 (opinion of Thomas, J.) The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the District had a compelling state interest in achieving the benefits of racial diversity and that its plan was narrowly tailored. Indeed, the race-conscious ranges at issue in these cases often have no effect, either because the particular school is not oversubscribed in the year in question, or because the racial makeup of the school falls within the broad range, or because the student is a transfer applicant or has a sibling at the school. No. 1, No. This Court has recognized that the public interests at stake in such cases are compelling. We have approved of narrowly tailored plans that are no less race-conscious than the plans before us. . This means that the government must identify a compelling interest and show that it has used a narrowly tailored means to further it. Jefferson County Public Schools & Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. The districts have also failed to show that they considered methods other than explicit racial classifications to achieve their stated goals. Justice Thomas also rejected the view advanced by the dissent that these school districts were in danger of resegregation. Due to a variety of factorssome influenced by government, some notneighborhoods in our communities do not reflect the diversity of our Nation as a whole. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, Opinion (Roberts), Concurrence (Thomas), Concurrence (Kennedy), Dissent (Breyer), Dissent (Stevens). in No. Most non-white families live south of downtown, where five high schoolsChief Sealth, Cleveland, Franklin, Garfield, and Rainier Beachare located. If the dissent were to say that college cases are simply not applicable to public school systems in kindergarten through high school, this would seem to me wrong, but at least an arguable distinction. At the same time, the plan provided that a previous black school would remain about 50% black, while a previous white school would remain about two-thirds white. Navigating around that inconvenient authority, the dissent argues that the racial balancing in these plans is not an end in itself but is instead intended to teac[h] children to engage in the kind of cooperation among Americans of all races that is necessary to make a land of three hundred million people one Nation. Post, at 3940. 1. in No. In order to satisfy this searching standard of review, the school districts must demonstrate that the use of individual racial classifications in the assignment plans here under review is narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest. How does the Jefferson County School Board define diversity? A. Meredith joined a pending lawsuit filed by several other plaintiffs. In this plurality opinion, Roberts wrote that the schools at issue contend that a racially diverse environment is beneficial for education and they submit this as the reason why they consider race alone in their school assignments. 1, 458 U. S. 457, 461466 (1982). of Oral Arg. Apr 4, 2018 27 Dislike Share Save Ronaq Sahni 8 subscribers A Brief Video explaining the case of Parents Involved In Community Schools v. Seattle School District. It added magnet programs at two high schools. 05915, at 12, and n.13. . See Harrell, School Web Site Removed: Examples of Racism Sparked Controversy, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 2, 2006, p. B1. For instance, a Texas appeals court in 1986 rejected a Fourteenth Amendment challenge to a voluntary integration plan by explaining: [T]he absence of a court order to desegregate does not mean that a school board cannot exceed minimum requirements in order to promote school integration. 14, 1. The Seattle school board itself must believe that racial mixing is not necessary to black achievement. And when de facto discrimination is at issue our tradition has been that the remedial rules are different. The Chief Justice delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, II, IIIA, and IIIC, concluding: 1. 693, 227 N.E.2d 729. 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)?
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