Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission Brief Amicus Curiae Supporting Petitioner
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February 1, 1990

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Brief Collection, LDF Court Filings. Marks v The New Edinburg School District Brief for Appellants, 1967. 52306b0e-bd9a-ee11-be36-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/67f7d669-178f-421c-80ee-52ac93815b2a/marks-v-the-new-edinburg-school-district-brief-for-appellants. Accessed April 22, 2025.
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, ) v . H& IN THE United States Court of Appeals No. 18763 J o h n T . M ark s , et al, ---------------------------------------- Appellants, V. T h e N e w E dinburg S chool D istrict , et a l . , ----- Appellees. BRIEF FOR APPELLANTS J o h n W . W alker 1304-B Wright Avenue Little Rock, Arkansas 72206 J ack G reenberg M ich ael M eltsner 10 Columbus Circle New York, New York 10019 Attorneys for Appellants PARAGON PRINTING CO.. LITTLE ROCK f. INDEX Page Page Statement of Case ---------------------- -------------------------------------------- 1 Preliminary Statement _______________________________________ 8 Statement of Points to be Argued ___________ __________________ 10 Argument I The failure of the District Court to require the admission of Negro pupils residing in the New Edinburg School District to the New Edinburg School denies Negro students equal protection of the laws------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- 12 II The desegregation plan approved by the District Court is contrary to the ruling of this Court in Kelley v. Altheimer. ___________________________________ 13 III Appellants are entitled to attorneys’ fees _____________ 16 Conclusion_____________________________________________________ 17 TABLE OF CASES Bell v. School Board of Powhatan County, Va., 4th Cir., 1963, 321 F. 2d 494 _________________________________________ 16 Board of Education v. Dowell, No. 8523 (10th Cir., Jan. 23, 1967 __________________________________________________ 13 Bradley v. School Board of Richmond, 382 U.S. 103 (1965) ______ 14 Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) _______________ 12 Clark v. Board of Education, 369 F. 2d 661 (8th Cir., (1966) _____________________________________________________ 14 Corbin v. County School Board of Pulaski County, Va., 177 F. 2d 924 (4th Cir., 1949) ______________________________ 12 Goins v. County School Board of Grayson County, Va., 186 F. Supp. 753 (W. D. Va., 1960) ________________________ 12 Kelley v. Altheimer, No. 18,528 (8th Cir., April 12, 1967) 14 INDEX — (Continued) Page Kemp v. Beasley, 352 F. 2d 14 (8th Cir., 1965) _________________ 14 McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, 339 U.S. 637 (1950) ------ -- 13 Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, 305 U.S. 337 (1938) ----------- 13 Rogers v. Paul, 382 U.S. 198 (1965) _____________________________ 14 Rolax v. Atlantic Coast Line R. R. Co., 186 F. 2d 473 (4th Cir., 1951) ___________ ______________________________________ 16 School Board of Warren County, Va., v. Kilby, 259 F. 2d 497 (4th Cir., 1960); ___________________________________ 12 Sipuel v. Oklahoma, 332 U.S. 131 (1948) ________________________ 13 Smith v. Board of Education of Morrilton, 365 F. 2d 770 (8th Cir., 1966) ____________________________________________ 14 Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950) __________________________ 13 United States v. Jefferson County Board of Education, Civil No. 23345 (5th Cir., Dec. 29, 1966), reaffirmed en banc (Mar. 29, 1967) ------------------------------------------------------ 13 IN THE United States Court of Appeals No. 18763 J o h n T. M ark s , et al, Appellants, V. T h e N ew E dinburg S chool D istrict , et al., — Appellees. BRIEF FOR APPELLANTS STATEMENT OF CASE This is an Arkansas school desegregation suit filed by Negro plaintiffs on August 30, 1966, seeking injunctive relief to have the public schools of New Edinburg, Ar kansas desegregated (R.l-5). New Edinburg is a small school district which, during the 1965-66 school year, had a total pupil enumeration of between 350 and 370 (R. 30). It operated two schools: (a) the “ A ” rated (R. 181) New Edinburg school, a modern brick building (R. 10, 14) attended solely by 160 white pupils in grades one through twelve, and staffed solely by 11 white teachers and one white principal (R .ll, 13); and (b) the “ C” rated (R.181) St. Paul school, a small inferior and in adequate frame building (R.9, 10, 33, 35, 109, 137, 161, 162) which presented health and life hazards (R.131) at 2 tended solely by between 65 (R.71) and 75 (R.9) Negro pupils in grades one through six, and staffed solely by three Negro teachers who received lower wages than the white teachers (R.9, 77). New Edinburg did not operate a high school for Negro pupils in grades seven through twelve. Instead the 55 Negro pupils in those grades attended the all-Negro J. E. Wallace School in the adjacent Fordyce School District pursuant to a tuition arrangement between the two dis tricts (R.71, 73, 74). New Edinburg, however, provided bus transportation for the Negro pupils (R.12, 79, 89). This arrangement was approved by the state and county Boards of Education (R.79, 80). New Edinburg committed itself to the United States Office of Education to begin desegregation under the Office’s “ Guidelines on School Desegregation” at the start of the 1965-66 school term. The first plan sub mitted by New Edinburg to the Office of Education called for discontinuation of the tuition arrangement with Fordyce and assigning all Negro pupils in grades seven through twelve to New Edinburg. This could have been done without major difficulty to the district (R.16). The lower six grades were to be desegregated on a “ three- three” basis the next two years (R.15). New Edinburg rescinded its first approved plan and substituted in its place a three year “ freedom of choice” plan of desegregation at the rate of four grades per year (R.24). The “ free-choice” plan was adopted by de fendants in the hope and expectation that it would fail (R.43, 73, 74). In so doing, New Edinburg represented to the Office of Education that ‘ ‘ Three years is a minimum period of accomodation and acclimation of the patrons of the district of both races to achieve a good faith ac- 3 ceptance of desegregation of this important aspect of com munity life” (R.26). New Edinburg also represented to the Office of Education that the additional time was needed to construct additional facilities which wms not true (R.28-30). On the basis of these representations the Office of Education approved New Edinburg’s sub stituted plan thereby permitting the district to continue its interdistrict, racial assignment policy. New Edinburg’s first year of desegregation, 1965-66, in which no desegregation was achieved, worked “ beau tifully” said Superintendant Splawn (R.27, 31, 32, 34). All assignments that year were made on a purely racial basis (R.113). New Edinburg signed a 441-B assurance of compli ance form with the Office of Education early in 1966. Thereunder, appellees agreed to abide by the revised “ Guidelines” (R.36, 154). Under the Guidelines for 1966, a choice period of thirty days was to be held between January 1 and April 30. New Edinburg did not hold a choice period during that time and thus failed to send parents notice and choice forms as required by the ‘ ‘ Guide lines” . On April 18, 1966, Negro parents, acting on the belief that a choice could be made in any manner of writ ing which sufficiently identified the student and indicated a choice of schools, filed a petition on behalf of 119 of their school age children in grades one through twelve which stated: “ We the undersigned citizens of the New Edin burg School District, Cleveland County, Arkansas, do hereby request that our children whose names are listed below be registered at the New Edin burg School for the year commencing September, 1966” (R.132). 4 After receiving the petition, appellees decided to hold a 30 day choice period beginning May 4, 1966, in violation of the “ Guidelines” (R.70). Thereunder, “ 93 white students returned those forms choosing to attend New Edinburg School out of 122 forms sent. Of a total of 114 forms sent to Negro students, 20 returned the forms choosing to attend the New Edinburg School and 21 re turned the forms choosing to attend either St. Paul School or J. E. Wallace High School” (R.89). Thus, by the ap pellees’ figures, 29 white pupils and 73 Negro pupils failed to sign choice forms; these pupils were then as signed to the school formerly attended (R.113, 114). The “ second” choice period was given because the board had not expected so many Negro pupils to choose the white school and it hoped to reduce the number of transfers with the second choice (R.43, 44). The board took the position, however, that the choices expressed in the petition were not intelligently made, that the sponsors of the petition acted on the basis of misunderstanding, and thus, the choices were invalid (R.49, 50, 88). There was no competent testimony introduced to support the Board’s position. In fact, testimony presented supported a con trary position (R.140-142, 150, 151). The Petitioners did not participate in the “ second” choice period because they had already made a choiec (R. 148) and were not advised by New Edinburg that their choices made via petition on April 18 would not be honored until August 20, 1966 (R.46). This was after the Office of Education had advised New Edinburg that the petition was a valid choice expression under the “ Guidelines” (R.41, 156, 159, 160). By August 20, 1966, appellees knew that they were in non-compliance with the Guidelines and that their federal 0 funds would be withdrawn (R.52, 53). Indeed, as at tested by Mr. Baldo of the Office of Education, apjjellees violated the guidelines by: (1) refusing to accept the petition as a valid choice of the parents and pupils; (2) failing to hold a choice period during the prescribed time; (3) sending Negro pupils in the high school grades to a. school outside the district; (4) refusing or failing to close the small, inferior and inadequate all-Negro St. Paul School; and (5) not desegregating its faculty (R. 161). Appellees, by refusing to honor their commit ments to the patrons of the District and to the Office of Education to follow the “ Guidelines” , forced the Negro pupils assigned to the all-Negro St. Paul and J. E. Wallace schools to take legal action to secure relief. In their complaint, appellants sought to require ap pellees to implement the Guidelines or equal alternative relief including the invalidation of interdistrict transfers which had the effect of perpetuating racial segregation. They also prayed for cost and attorney’s fees. After two hearings (R.5-85, 101-206) the court made the fol lowing rulings, among others, on September 16, 1967: (1) it would not “ require the district to comply with the guidelines of the Office of Education” (See also 201- 202) (2) that Negro high school pupils in the eleventh and twelfth grades would be given ten days in which to make a new freedom of choice between the J. E. Wallace School and the New Edinburg School; and (3) that appellees present a modified desegregation plan within 20 days. The District responded with a modified “ free choice” plan (R.218-221) whereby: (1) in April or May of 1967, 6 pupils in grades one through twelve would be given an opportunity to make a choice of schools for the next school year. The choice period would be fifteen days; (2) commencing with the 1967-68 school year, pupils in grades one and seven would be required each year to make choices; (3) although the district was opposed to lateral transfers, such would be granted except when they would result in over-crowding; and (4) faculty vacancies would be filled without regard to the race or color of the applicant. Appellants objected to each aspect of appellees’ mod ified plan (R.221, 223). Judge Harris thereupon re quired certain modifications and sought to ascertain whether appellees proposed to continue utilizing the J. E. Wallace School in Fordyce and whether improvements were being made to the St. Paul School. Appellees’ subsequent modifications re J. E. Wallace, as approved by the Court, read as follows: “ This District wall continue to pay tuition and provide transportation for students in grades seven through twelve who choose to attend J. E. Wallace High School as long as a sufficient number elect to attend that school to justify operating a school bus for this purpose” (R.228). Despite the manifest bad faith of appellees and the fact that there were no meaningful obstacles to full de segregation in New Edinburg (R.20-24), the district court approved appellees’ modified plan, retaining jurisdiction during the period of transition, thereby completely thwarting, without cause, the Office of Education’s reason able attempt to enforce Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In so doing, the district court invalidated choices I made on April 18, 1966, by the petition filed which had been approved by the Office of Education. Thus, instead of at least 119 Negro pupils being assigned to New Edinburg during 1966 only 8 were assigned thereto by the Court approved plan. Moreover, the district court order aborted the Office of Education’s requirement that the grossly inferior, inadequate and unsafe St. Paul school for 65 to 75 Negro pupils in grades one through six be closed despite its own finding that St. Paul was inferior (R.216). The only relief granted by the Court on this point was a new toilet (R.224). The District Court further upheld appellees’ interdistrict transfer plan even though it found “ that the curriculum in the J. E. Wallace school is somewhat different and to some extent inferior to the New Edinburg School” (R.216). Finally, the Court approved a shorter choice period — fifteen days — than that required under the “ Guidelines” — thirty days, did not require actual faculty desegregation, failed to require appellees to make assignments on a non- racial basis where pupils failed to make choices and failed to rule on appellants prayer for attorney’s fees. Notice of appeal was filed by appellants January 20, 1967. 8 PRELIMINARY STATEMENT This is another Arkansas case where a School Dis trict sought and received sanctuary in the federal courts to avoid complying with the Guidelines on school deseg regation promulgated by the Department of Health, Edu cation, and Welfare and enforced by the Office of Edu cation of that department. This District should long ago have desegregated completely because it operated a grossly inferior and inadequate elementary school within the District for a handful of Negro pupils and it required the Negroes in the high school grades to obtain their edu cation in another school district. This District agreed in 1965, however, to implement the Office of Education “ Guidelines” and submitted several plans which were approved by that office. However, absolutely no deseg regation occured in the first year of the plan, 1965, and in 1966, when more Negroes chose to attend the white school than the District expected, the District decided not to follow the Guidelines. It, therefore forced the Negro pupils into court for redress. When the matter was presented to the District Court, the school board could not reasonably justify its decision not to implement the Guidelines or to grant the choices made by the Negro pupils. The manifest bad faith and arrogance of the District in its treatment of Negro pupils is evident in the record and has now been given judicial approval. The District Court, without any justification whatever, determined that it did not require the Guide lines to be implemented in this District although the Dis trict had been committed for two years to follow them. The fear expressed in Kemp v. Beasley, 352 F. 2d 14 (8th Cir. 1965), has become a reality and another school dis trict in Arkansas has reaped a benefit for its foot-dragging 9 and opposition to the principle of desegregation. The tragedy is that it was given federal judicial approval. Appellants, therefore, respectfully submit that New Edinburg is a clear example of the type of situation to which the Fifth Circuit addressed itself in United States v. Jefferson County Board of Education, ........ . F. 2 d _____ (5th Cir. Dec. 29, 1966), reaffirmed en banc (March 29, 1967) : The announcement in H.E.W. regulations that the Commissioner would accept a final school de segregation order as proof of the school’s eligibil ity for federal aid prompted a number of schools to seek refuge in the federal courts. Many of these had not moved a single inch toward desegregation. In Louisiana alone twenty school boards obtained quick decrees providing for desegregation accord ing to plans greatly at variance with the guide lines. We shall not nermit the Courts to be used to destroy or dilute the effectiveness of the Congres sional policy expressed in Title VI. There is no bonus for foot-dragging. For the reasons stated in Jefferson County and in Kemp, and for sound public policy reasons, appellants urge this Court to require that no less than the minimum standards set forth in the Guidelines on school desegre gation be implemented by the district courts when re calcitrant school districts seek to avoid H.E.W. require ments by resorting to the federal courts. 10 STATEMENT OF POINTS TO BE ARGUED i The failure of the District Court to require the admission of Negro pupils residing in the Neiv Edinburg School District to the New Edinburg School denies Negro students equal protection of the laws. Goins v. County School Board of Grayson County, Va., 186 F. Supp. 753 (W.D. Va. 1960); School Board of Warren County, Va. v. Kilby, 259 F. 2d 497 (4th Cir. 1960); Corbin v. County School Board of Pulaski County, Va., 177 F. 2d 924 (4th Cir. 1949) ; Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954); Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, 305 U.S. 337 (1938); Sipuel v. Oklahoma, 332 U.S. 131 (1948); Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950) ; McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, 339 U.S. 637 (1950). ii The desegregation plan approved by the District Court is contrary to the ruling of this Court in Kelley v. Altheimer. Kelley v. Altheimer, No. 18, 528 (8th Cir., April 12, 1967) 11 United States v. Jefferson County Board of Education, Civil No. 23345 (5th Cir., Dec. 29, 1966), reaffirmed en banc (Mar. 29, 1967); Board of Education v. Dowell, No. 8523 (10th Cir., Jan 23, 1967); Clark v. Board of Education, 369 F. 2d 661 (8th Cir., 1966) Smith v. Board of Education of Morrilton, 365 F. 2d 770 (8th Cir., 1966); Rogers v. Paul, 382 U.S. 198 (1965); Bradley v. School Board of Richmond, 382 U.S. 103 (1965); Kemp v. Beasley, 352 F. 2d 14 (8th Cir. 1965). in Appellants are entitled to attorneys’ fees. Bell v. School Board of Powhatan County, Va.,321 F. 2d 494 (4th Cir. 1963) Rolax v. Atlantic Coast Line R. R. Co., 186 F. 2d 473 (4th Cir. 1951). 12 ARGUMENT i The failure of the District Court to require the admission of Negro pupils residing in the New Edinburg School District to the New Edinburg School denies Negro students equal protection of the latvs. Until 1966-67 New Edinburg required its 55 Negro pupils to attend the all-Negro J. E. Wallace School op erated by the adjacent Fordyce School District. The New Edinburg School District provided bus transporta tion for them. White pupils were provided high school education within the District. Prior to the beginning of the 1966-67 school year, however, most of the Negro pupils being transported to Fordyce expressed a choice under the “ Guidelines” to attend school in New Edin burg. Their choices were rejected. Moreover, defend ants proposed to continue offering Negro pupils a choice between the New Edinburg and Fordyce Schools. This practice has long been condemned. As was said in Goins v. County School Board of Grayson County, Va., 186 F. Supp. 753 (W. D. Va. 1960), at 754: (T)he practice of sending these plaintiffs out side of their own county to attend school and denying them solely on account of their race the right to be educated within a high school in their own county under the same conditions as white children is something which cannot be legally de fended. See also, School Board of Warren County, Va. v. Kilby, 259 F. 2d 497 (4th Cir. 1960) and Corbin v. County School Board of Pulaski County, Fa., 177 F. 2d 924 (4th Cir. 1949). Even before Brown v. Board of Education, the 13 Supreme Court invalidated analogous practices in higher education; in 1938, Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, 305 U.S. 337; in 1948, Sipuel v. Oklahoma, 332 U.S. 131; in 1950, Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 620, and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, 339 U.S. 637. New Edinburg Negro pupils have been assigned or permitted to attend the J. E. Wallace School in Fordyce solely because of their race. They have a present right to attend the New Edinburg School. ri The desegregation plan approved by the District Court is contrary to the ruling of this Court in Kelley v. Altheimer. In Kelley v. Altheimer, No. 18,528 (8th Cir., April 12, 1967), this Court declared that no plan of desegrega tion could be considered adequate if its provisions were less stringent than the H.E.W. Guidelines. In addition, specific requirements for desegregation plans in the area of “ choice” plans, faculty desegregation, use of facil ities, and school equalization were laid down in the Court ’s decree. The plan approved below does not meet these requirements, and conflicts both with earlier decisions of this Circuit and with the Guidelines. A comprehensive decree equivalent to that entered in the Kelley case is, therefore, appropriate to ensure the actual desegregation of New Edinburg schools. Cf. United States v. Jeffer son County Board of Education, Civil No. 23345 (5th Cir., Dec. 29, 1966), reaffirmed en banc (Mar. 29, 1967); Board of Education v. Dowell, No. 8523 (10th Cir., Jan. 23, 1967). At a minimum, a decree must correct the following defects of the plan: 14 A. Faculty Desegregation. The plan approved below provides that “ vacancies on the teaching and pro fessional staff shall be filled by employment of the best qualified available applicant without regard to race, and it is hereby declared to be the policy of this district to accept and consider all applications for such professional employment without regard to race” (R.221). Thus approved, the plan is but a declaration of intention and does not comport with the specific requirements of this Court in Clark v. Board of Education, 369 F. 2d 661 (8th Cir., 1966); Kelley v. Altheimer, supra; Kemp v. Beasley, supra; and Smith v. Board of Education of Morrilton, 365 F. 2d 770 (8th Cir., 1966). These opinions stand for the clear proposition that affirmative action must be taken by the Board of Education to eliminate segrega tion of the faculty. See also, Rogers v. Paul, 382 U.S. 198 (1965); Bradley v. School Board of Richmond, 382 U.S. 103 (1965). Appellants submit that under the Kelley case, specific action according to a predetermined plan which guarantees rather than speculates performance is required to insure that faculty desegregation be promptly achieved. B. Freedom of Choice Plan, The plan approved provides for mandatory “ freedom of choice” to be ex ercised by all pupils in the New Edinburg District for the 1967-68 school term. Thereafter, only pupils enter ing the 1st and 7th grades shall be required to make a choice of schools. Pupils in other grades may apply for “ lateral transfers” which will be granted unless over crowding results at the school chosen, in which case they will continue at their presently attended school. How ever, the plan does not provide for the annual choice op portunity required in Kemp v. Beasley, supra, and in Clark v. Board of Education, supra, at p. 668. 15 C. Inferior Facilities. Under the Guidelines and the opinion in Kelley v. Altheimer, supra, small and inade quate schools must be closed. The District Court, how ever, permits such a school to he operated into the indef inite future. Such a school would have been unconsti tutional under the “ separate but equal” doctrine and cannot be sustained now. Kelley v. Altheimer, supra- See also, U.S. v. Jefferson County Bd. of Ed., supra; Rogers v. Paul, supra. D. Method of Exercising Choice. The “ Guidelines” provide that exercise of choice may also be made by the submission . . . of any . . . writing which sufficiently identifies the student and indicates that he has made a choice of schools. This provision has gained judicial approval, along with the other Guidelines provisions, in the Kelley and Jefferson Comity cases, supra, and is clearly reasonable. Moreover, in communities where the segregation tradition is strong, individual Negro parents may over come their fear and be bolstered in their desire to obtain desegregation for their children if they can express their choices as a group by petition. There was no showing- in this case that the petition of the parents was unintelli gible or vague. The reason for defendants’ rejection of the petition was simply that they did not expect or want to accept 119 Negro pupils into the white school. This reason was insufficient to justify the District Court’s decision to void the petition and require another choice period. 16 hi Appellants are entitled to attorneys’ fees New Edinburg began a plan of pupil desegregation pursuant to the H.E.W. Guidelines in order to continue receiving federal assistance. Under their plan no de segregation occurred during 1965-66. Prior to 1966-67 school term, 119 Negro pupils made choices to attend the all-white New Edinburg School, in April of 1966. New Edinburg waited until August 20, 1966, approximately 10 days prior to the opening of school, to advise them that their choices would not be accepted and thereby forced appellants into court for relief. Under the facts of this case, set forth supra, New Edinburg’s conduct is clearly discreditable and warrants the equitable relief, under the circumstances, of attorneys’ fees. Bell v. School Board of Powhatan County, Va-, 321 F. 2d 494, 500 (4th Cir. 1963); Rolax v. Atlantic Coast Line R. R. Co., 186 F. 2d 473, 481 (4th Cir. 1951). 17 CONCLUSION Appellants respectfully pray that this court reverse the District Court and remand the case to the District Court for the entry of an order requiring appellees to grant them the relief promised by the Guidelines of the Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and for other appropriate relief. Respectfully submitted, J ohn W. W alker 1304-B Wright Avenue Little Rock, Arkansas 72206 J ack G reenberg M ich ael M eltsner Suite 2030 — 10 Columbus Circle New York, New York 10019 Attorneys for Appellants 18 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, John W. Walker, hereby certify that I have served a copy of the foregoing Brief of Appellants upon the attorney for appellees, by personally handing it to said attorney, Robert V. Light, Esq., at his office at 1100 Boyle Building, Little Rock, Arkansas, this 17th day of July, 1967.