Intervenors' Complaint

    IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA 

NEW ORLEANS DIVISION 

EARL BENJAMIN BUSH, et al., 

Plaintiffs, 

CIVIL ACTION 

NO. 3630 

ORLEANS PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, et al., 

Defendants, 

CONNIE REED, a minor, by Gerald Rener, her 
guardian and next friend; 

JOHN EDWARD PRICE, MERELENA PRICE and 
BARBARA NELL PRICE, minors, by Merity M. 
Price, their father and next friend; 

DEBRA WILLIAMS and RITA WILLIAMS, minors, 
by Ellis Williams, their father and next 
friend 

ANNA CARTER AND VANESSA CARTER, minors, by 

Lawrence Carter, their father and next friend; 

BOBBIE ROY and KERMAN ROY, minors, by Phecobila 
Roy, their mother and next friend; 

ALICE MARIE WILLIAMS, ANTHONY WILLIAMS and 
SAUL JEROME WILLIAMS, minors, by Saul 
Williams, their father and next friend; 

YVONNE JASPER, JEROME JASPER and WALTERINE 
JASPER, minors, by Rosie Lean Jasper, their 
mother and next friend: 

JOHN H. TURNER and PATRIC ANN TURNER, minors, 
by Rosalee Turner, their mother and next 
friend; 

ELAINE ANN DOMINGO, IRIS MARGARET DOMINGO 
and KENNETH TIMOTHY DOMINGO, minors, by 
Alveria Domingo, their mother and next 
friend: S

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RALPH BROWN and EDWINA BROWN, minors, by 

Edward Brown, their father and next friend; 

JOSEPH ANTHONY PHILLIPS, a minor,by Louis 
Phillips, his father and next friend; 

BETTY JEAN LEE and JOHNELL RAY LEE, minors, 

by Joseph Lee, Jr., their father and next 

friend; 

MARILYN JEAN CYRUS and JAMES CYRUS, JR., 
minors, by James Cyrus, Sr., their father 
and next friend; 

LYNETTE DAVIS, a minor, by Johnnie Mae 

Davis, her mother and next friend; 

THEODORE WATSON, a minor, by Frank Watson, 

Jr., his father and next friend; 

JULIA ANN HEYWARD, BENJAMIN HEYWARD, JOHN 
HEYWARD and CHARLES HEYWARD, minors, by 
Thomas Myles, their grandfather and next 
friend; 

RAYMOND WASHINGTON, MICHAEL WASHINGTON 

and RONALD WASHINGTON, minors, by Robert 
Washington, their father and next friend; 

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GAYNELL GOLDEN and LEARNESE GOLDEN, minors, 
by Herbert Golden, their father and next ) 

friend; 

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BLANCHE COLEMAN, PAULA FAYE COLEMAN and 
ANTHONY WALTER COLEMAN, minors, by Lillie 
Bell Coleman, their mother and next friend; 

BRENDA LEE BEAN, HERBERT BEAN, JR., and 
MICHAEL BEAN, minors, by Herbert Bean, 
their father and next friend; 

DELORES BOUIE, LARRY THOMAS BOUIE and ZEB 
BOUIE, minors, by Alberta Bouie, their 
mother and next friend; 

EDNA SANDERS and PATRICE SANDERS, minors, 
by John M, Sanders, their father and next 
friend; 

KENNETH CARTER, a minor, by Florence Carter, 
his mother and next friend; 

MICHAEL DAVIS, ZACHARY DAVIS, ROBY DAVIS and 
AVA MARIA DAVIS, minors, by Wilhelmina Davis, 
their mother and next friend; 

JUDY MARIE MERRICK and VERNA LEE MERRICK, 
minors, by Shirley Merrick, their mother 
and next friend; 

ANGEL MARIE DUPLECHAIN and RONALD LEON 
CUPLECHAIN, minors, by Georgiaetta Duplechain, 
their mother and next friend; 



JULIUS HANDY, III, a minor, by Julius Handy, 

Jr., his father and next friend; 

7IRECE FRAZIER, a minor, by Dolores Frazier, 

her mother and next friend; 

TYRONNE SCOTT, JOSEPH SCOTT and DAVID 
SCOTT, 

minors, by Euralee Scott, their mother and 

next friend; 

RONALD BOURGEOIS and DARRELL BOURGEOIS, 

minors, by Dolores Bourgeois, their mother 

and next friend; 

JO-ANN KING and EDWIN KING, minors, by Vera 

King, their mother and next friend; 

JUAN SPENCER, BURNELL SPENCER and URSULA 

SPENCER, minors, by Mr. and Mrs. William 

Spencer, their parents and next friends; 

DON TROPEZ and YOLONDA TROPEZ, minors, by 

Olla Mae Tropez and Samuel Tropez, their 

parents and next friends; 

PAMELA HOWARD and HYFORD HOWARD, JR., minors, 

by Hyford Howard, their father and next 

friend; 

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PHYLLIS MARIE CLARK and CHERYL ANN CLARK, 

minors, By Ernder Clark, their father and ) 

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next friend; 

BONITA LOUISE BROWN, a minor, by Rev. J. D. 

Brown, her father and next friend; 

ROSALIND CUNNINGHAM, RONALD CUNNINGHAM, 

REGINALD CUNNINGHAM and ROSINA CUNNINGHAM, 

minors, by Roland Cunningham, their father 

and next friend; 

GREGORY ALAN BREAUX, a minor, by Walter 

Breaux, Jr., his father and next friend; 

INA MARIE LEONARD, a minor, by David W. 

Leonard, her father and next friend; 

MARSHA. MALBROUGH, a minor, by Marshall 

Malbrough, her father and next friend; 

PATRICIA KEELER, a minor, by John Willie 

Keeler, her father and next friend; 

KENNETH JOSEPH LOMBARD, a minor, by 

Lionel Joseph Lombard, his father and 

next friend; 

KAREN VERRETT, KEVIN VERRETT and KERRY LYNN 

VERRETT, minors, by Doris Verrett, their 

mother and next friend; 



ROSALIND HAYES and SANDRA HAYES, minors, ) 

by Herman Evans, their guardian and next 

friend; ) 

SHERRYL ANN LEE NORAH, a minor, by Orville 

T. Norah, Jr., her father and next friend; 

ANTHONY WASHINGTON and SANDRA WASHINGTON, 

minors, by Frederick D. Washington, Sr., 

their father and next friend; 

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DEBRA YVETTE MASON and HIRAM LOUIS MASON, 

minors, by Willie Mason and Elnora Mason, ) 

their parents and next friends; 

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FORREST CLOUD and ADDISON CLOUD, minors by 

Douglas Cloud, their father and next friend; 

JAMES KELVIN ALLEN, a minor, by James Allen, 

his father and next friend, 

Plaintiff-Intervenors 

INT ERVENORS' COMPLAINT 

1. The intervenors adopt and reassert the allegations of the 

complaint and the amended complaint herein. Reference in said com=- 

plaint to the infant plaintiffs to include the infant intervenors, 

reference to the adult plaintiffs to include the adult intervenors 

and reference to the plaintiffs without specification to include all 

intervenors. 

2. The infant intervenors are citizens of the United States anc 

the State of Louisiana and are Negro school children attending public 

schools operated by the defendant Orleans Parish School Board. The 

adult intervenors are citizens of the United States and the State of 

Louisiana and the parents or guardians of the infant intervenors. 

All of the intervenors are members of the class represented by the 

original plaintiffs in this cause and they are entitled to the bene- 

fits of the Court's orders in this cause, 

3, This Court entered a final injunction requiring the defend- 

ants to take steps to desegregate the public schools on October 23, 

1958. The Court entered a further order on May 16, 1960 requiring 

the defendants to begin desegregation of the first grade in the 



Orleans Parish school system during the 1960-1961 term. The only 

actual desegregation which has been carried out by the defendants 

has consisted of the admission of 12 Negro pupils to formerly alle 

white schools. All other pupils in the Parish school system are 

still assigned to racially segregated schools in accordance with 

separate school attendance areas established on the basis of race. 

4. The Orleans Parish School Board follows a policy, practice, 

custom and usage of assigning children to public schools on a 

racially segregated basis and maintains and enforces a dual system 

of attendance districts based upon race. Said policies, practices, 

customs and usages deprive plaintiff-intervenors of rights pro- 

tected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

States and previous orders of this Court. 

5. The defendant Board adopted a new set of rules and proced- 

ures for assigning pupils on or about April 24, 1961, These proced- 

ures continue compulsory racial segregation in all orades except 

the first grade and except for those few pupils attending nonsegre- 

gated classes during the previous year. Pupils entering the first 

grade who desire to attend a nonsegregated class are not permitted to 

do so "at their option" as provided for in the court's order of May 

16, 1960. Instead, the defendants have adopted and are enforcing 

rules providing a complex and burdensome series of administrative 

procedures as well as numerous vague and intangible assignment 

criteria which limit and restrict the "option" to enter nonsegregated 

schools, 

6. The defendant's pupil assignment procedures and criteria 

provide for the use of special and different assignment standards, 

qualifications and procedures and other restrictive rules in determ=- 

ining the applications of Negroes seeking to enter previously all- 

white schools. These pupil assignment procedures are racially dis- 

criminatory and operate to limit desegregation to a few pupils, 

while generally maintaining the previously established segregated 

pattern. The defendant's rules include a requirement that pupils 



attending desegregated classes must be separated by sex, a require- 

ment imposed only with respect to such children. The adoption and 

enforcement of the defendant's assignment procedures and criteria 

infringes the rights of intervenors and other members of plaintiffs’ 

class guaranteed by the due process and equal protection clauses of 

the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and 

the previous orders of this Court. 

7. Plaintiff-Intervenors allege that many of the all-Negro 

schools maintained and operated by the Orleans Parish School Board 

are overcrowded and operated under inadequate and substandard condi- 

tions (including widespread use of "platooning" or part time 

sessions for pupils) with resulting disadvantage to the pupils attend- 

ing these schools; that a similar pattern of overcrowded and inad- 

equate facilities does not prevail in the all-white and predominantly 

white schools; that extending desegregated education in Orleans 

Parish school system to fully utilize all existing facilities would 

aid in ending or ameliorating the overcrowded, inadequate and sub- 

standard conditions to which Negro pupils are subjected, This 

inequality of the educational facilities for Negro pupils has existed 

in the system over a long period and the overcrowding and platooning 

was one of the matters complained of in the original complaint in 

this cause (original complaint, paragraph 19). The intervenors and 

other interested parents submitted a petition to the defendant Board 

on or about November 13, 1961 complaining of these conditions while 

calling the Board's attention to many details of the inequitable sit=- 

uation, and requested that the defendants take action to fully util- 

ize available facilities by desegregation of the schools. Defendants 

have taken no action to grant this request. 

8, The actions, practices and procedures of defendants men- 

tioned above, constitute racial discrimination against intervenors 

and other Negro children similarly situated and deny them their 

rights under the equal protection and due process clauses of the 

Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. These 

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acts complained of above, are also contrary to the orders of the 

court in this case. 

9. No reasonable and adequate administrative remedies are 

available to the intervenors to secure redress of the matters com=~ 

plained of herein. The pupil assignment policies and procedures used 

by the defendants are racially discriminatory and operate to perpet=- 

uate the pre-existing pattern of racial segregation, and overcrowded, 

inadequate conditions for Negro pupils. 

10. Unless intervenors are afforded the relief sought herein, 

the defendants will continue the discriminatory policies, practices 

and procedures mentioned above and will continue to maintain segre- 

gation in the public schools of Orleans Parish, Plaintiffs are 

threatened with irreparable injury by reason of the policies, 

practices and procedures complained of herein and have no adequate 

remedy at law to obtain relief therefrom. 

WHEREFORE, plaintiff-intervenors respectfully pray that the 

Court: 

1. Let this complaint be filed and hear and determine the re- 

quest for preliminary and/or final injunctive relief together with 

the now pending motion for further relief, which involves the same 

issues of law and fact. 

2, Enter a preliminary and/or final injunction restraining the 

defendants, their agents, servants and employees from refusing to 

admit, enroll and educate the plaintiff-intervenors and others simi- 

larly situated to schools on a non-racial basis, and without racial 

discrimination; restraining the defendants from continuing the system 

of initial assignments on the basis of race and restraining the de- 

fendants from applying any discriminatory pupil transfer or assign- 

ment standards, criteria or procedures which operate to limit deseg- 

regation and preserve the pre-existing segregated school system. 

3. That the Court grant such othr and further relief as may 



seem just and proper. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Ernest Morial 
A. P. Tureaud 
A. M. Trudeau 

1821 Orleans Avenue 
New Orleans, Louisiana 

Jack Greenberg 
Constance Baker Motley 
James M. Nabrit, III 

10 Columbus Circle 
New York 19, N, Y. 

Attorneys for Plaintiff-Intervenors