Jones v. Caddo Parish School Board Brief for Appellants
Public Court Documents
April 15, 1974

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Brief Collection, LDF Court Filings. Jones v. Caddo Parish School Board Brief for Appellants, 1974. 3bcf2d4d-b99a-ee11-be36-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/6d2593e8-22e5-4ecc-9887-23e6923298f7/jones-v-caddo-parish-school-board-brief-for-appellants. Accessed October 08, 2025.
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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT NO. 74-1672 BERYL N. JONES, et a'l.. , Plaintiffs, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Intervenor, vs. CADDO PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, et al., Defendants-Appellees, JERRY ADAMS, et al., Applicants for Intervention Appellants. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana BRIEF FOR APPELLANTS ADAMS, et al. HILRY HUCKABY, III 501 Petroleum Tower Shreveport, Louisiana 71101 JACK GREENBERG JAMES M. NABRIT, III NORMAN J. CHACHKIN MARGRETT FORD 10 Columbus Circle New York, New York 10019 Attorneys for Appellants IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT NO. 74-1672 BERYL N. JONES, et al., Plaintiffs, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, vs . Plaintiff-Intervenor, CADDO PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, et al., Defendants-Appellees, JERRY AD/aMS , et al., Applicants for Intervention- Appellants . Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana CERTIFICATE REQUIRED BY LOCAL RULE 13(a) The undersigned, counsel of record for the applicants for intervention-appellants, certifies that the following listed parties have an interest in the outcome of this case. These representations are made in order that Judges of this Court may evaluate possible disqualification or recusal pursuant to Local Rule 13(a) : 1. The original plaintiffs who commenced this action in 1965 include Rev. E. E. Jones, who sued individually and on behalf of his minor children Beryl N. Jones and Ernest E. Jones, Jr.; Mrs. Bernice Smith, who sued individually and on behalf of her minor children Brenda Braggs and Renee Skannal; and Mrs. Dorothy Saxton, who sued individually and on behalf 0 1 her minor children Brenda Louise Saxton and Kenneth Saxton. A fourth original plaintiff, C.C. McLain, was dismissed as a party plain tiff on his own behalf and on behalf of his minor children on June 14, 1965. 2. The original plaintiffs above named commenced and maintained this action as a class aclion pursuant to F.R. Civ. P. 23 on behalf of “other Negro children and their parents in CJiddo Parish. 3. The United States of America, admitted as a plaintiff- intervenor in this cause. 4. The defendants are the Caddo Parish School Board, a public body corporate responsible for the operation of the public schools of Caddo Parish, Louisiana; and the current President of the said School Board and Superintendent of the Caddo Parish Public Schools. 5. Appellants, unsuccessful applicants for intervention as plaintiffs, are Mrs. Fannie Adams, suing individually and on behalf of her minor children Jerry Adams, Vicki Adams and -2- William Adams; Mrs. Marjorie R. Ford, suing individually and on behalf of her minor children Tracy Roderick Ford, Vivian Ray Ford, Toni Lynn Ford and Alan Craig Ford; David L. Roberson, suing individually and onbehalf of his minor child Kevin Dwayne Roberson; Rev. Curtis F. Roberson; and Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Clark, suing individually and on behalf of their minor children Jeanette Clark, Janet Marie Clark, Azzie Lee Clark and Eddie Clark, Jr. 6. Appellants sought to intervene in this litigation m order to represent the interests of a class defined as follows: "present and future black public schoolchildren who are or will be eligible to attend the public schools of Caddo Parish . . . [and] parents and guardians of such black public schoolchildren with the exception of the subclass of such adults who have accepted the presently operative plan of desegregation and who do not desire to have its constitutionality determined by this Court." ({(Ccu/it NORMAN J. CH^CHKIN Attorney of Record for Applicants for Intervention- Appellants. -3- I N D E X Page Table of Authorities . ........................... ii Issues Presented for Review .................... 1 Statement Background of the C a s e .................... 2 Proceedings for Further Desegregation . . . . 3 Substitution of Counsel and Entry of Consent Decree .................. 6 The Attempted Intervention ................ 8 ARGUMENT — I. The District Court Erred in Denying Intervention.......... ..................10 'A. The interests sought to be represen ted by the appellants were not ade quately protected by the original plaintiffs in the proceedings before the District C o u r t .................. 10 B. Appellants complied with the require ments of Hines v. Rapides Parish School Bd. , supra .................. 13 C. Intervention would have corrected the error committed by the District Court in the substitution of counsel . 14 D. The intervention was timely.......... 16 II. This Case Should Be Remanded To Another District Judge With Instructions To Disapprove The Biracial Committee Plan . . 20 A. A reversal of the intervention ruling alone, or with a remand to the District Court to reconsider its approval of the biracial committee plan will lead only to delay and is unnecessary since the holding and principles of Calhoun v. Cook, 487 F.2d 680 (5th Cir. 1973), are so clearly controlling.......... 21 l I N D E X (continued) B. This Court should also instruct the District Court on remand that the biracial committee plan is unconsti tutionally insufficient on this record because it fails to desegre gate the Caddo Parish public schools . 26 C. This case should be remanded with instructions that it be transferred to another district judge . . . . . . 28 oqConclusion.............................. .. Page Table of Authorities Cases: Alexander v. Holmes County Bd. of Educ., 396 U.S. 19 (1969) . .............................* 19 Allen v. Board of Public Instruction of Broward County, 432 F.2d 362 (5th Cir. 1970) . . . . 27 Ashback v. Kirtley, 289 F.2d 159 (8th Cir. 1961) 22 Atlantis Development Corp. v. United States, 379 F.2d 818 (5th Cir. 1967).............. 12n Bradley v. Board of Public Instruction of Pinellas County, 431 F.2d 1377 (5th Cir. 1970) . . . 27 Brown v. Board of Educ., 347 U.S. 483 (1954) . . 23, 24 Calhoun v. Cook, 487 F.2d 680 (5th Cir. 1973) . . 2, 13, 14,19-20, 21, Calhoun v. Cook, 469 F.2d 106 7 (5th Cir. 1972) . -an Cameron v. President & Fellows, 157 F.2d 993 (Ist Cir. 1946) .......................... 16, 22n xi Carter v. West Feliciana Parish School Bd., 396 U.S. 290 (1970)........................ 3, 19 Carter v. WTest Feliciana Parish School Bd., 396 U.S. 226 (1969)........................ 19 Cascade Natural Gas Corp. v. El Paso Natural Gas Co., 386 U.S. 129 (1967) ............ .. 12n, 17 Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School Dist., 467 F.2d 142 (5th Cir. 1972) . . . . . 27 Cohen v. Young, 127 F.2d 721 (6th Cir. 1942) . . . 22 Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1 (1958) ............... 24 Davis v. Board of School Comm1rs of Mobile, 402 . U.S. 33 (1971) ......................... 27 Dowell v. School Bd. of Oklahoma City, 430 F.2d 865 (10th Cir. 1970; ...................... 12 Ellis v. Board of Public Instruction of Orange County, 465 F.2d 878 (5th Cir. 1972), cert, denied, 410 U.S. 966 (1973)................ 18 Flax v. Potts, 313 F.2d 284 (5th Cir. 1963) . . . 23, 25, 28 Hall v. St. Helena Parish School Bd., 417 F.2d 801 (5th Cir.), cert, denied, 396 U.S. 904 (1969) . . . . . ................ . . . 3 Hatton v. County Bd. of Educ. of Maury County, 422 F.2d 457 (6th Cir. 1970) .............. 11 Henry v. Clarksdale Municipal Separate School Dist., 433 F.2d 387 (5th Cir. 1970) . . . . . 27 Hines v. Rapides Parish School Bd., 479 F.2d 762 (5th Cir. 1973)........................ 8, 10, 13, 14 Jones v. Caddo Parish School Bd., 421 F.2d 313 (5th Cir. 1970)........................ 3 Lee v. Macon County Bd. of Educ., 482 F.2d 1253 (5th Cir. 1973) ...................... 13 Norman v. McKee, 431 F.2d 769 (9th Cir. 1970) . . 22 Table of Authorities (continued) Page iii Northcross v. Board of Educ. of Memphis, 412 U.S. 427 (1973)............................ 30 Pate v. Dade County School Bd., 434 F.2d 1141 (5th Cir. 1970)............................ 27 Sertic v. Cuyahoga Lake, etc., Carpenters Dist. Council, 459 F.2d 579 (6th Cir. 1972) . . . . 22 Sheffield v. Itawamba County Bd. of Supervisors, 439 F. 2d 35 (5th Cir. 1971)................ 25 Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948)........... 25, 28 Singleton v. Jackson Municipal Separate School Dist., 432 F.2d 927 (5th Cir. 1970) . . . . . 27 Smuck v. Hobson, 408 F.2d 175 (D.C. Cir. 1968), rev1 g 44 F.R.D. 18 (D.D.C. 1968) .......... 12 Steele v. Board of Public Instruction of Leon County, 448 F.2d 767 (5th Cir. 1971) . . . . 19 Stell v. Savannah-Chatham County Bd. of Educ., 333 F.2d 55 (5th Cir.), cert, denied, 379 U.S. 933 (1964)............................ H Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 402 U.S. 1 (1971).......................... 3, 9n, 27 Trbovich v. United Mine Workers of America, 404 U.S. 528 (1972)............................ 12 United States v. Hinds County School Bd., No. 28030 (5th Cir., March 20, 1974) .......... 19 United States v. Jefferson County Bd. of Educ., 372 F.2d 836 (1966), aff'd en banc, 380 F.2d 385 (5th Cir.), cert, denied sub nom. Caddo Parish School Bd. v. United States, 389 U.S. 840 (1967) ................................ 3 United States v. Quattrone, 149 F. Supp. 240 (D.D.C. 1957) .............................. 28 United States v. Texas Educ. Agency, 467 F.2d 848 (5th Cir. 1972)........................ 27 Table of Authorities (continued) Page IV Table of Authorities (continued) M i Walpert v. Bart, 44 F.R.D. 359 (D. Md. 1968) . . . 18 Wright v. Board of Public Instruction of Alachua County, 431 F.2d 1200 (5th Cir. 1970) . . . . 27 Wright v. Board of Public Instruction of Alachua County, 445 F.2d 1397 (5th Cir. 1971) . . . . 19 Young v. Katz, 447 F.2d 431 (5th Cir. 1971) . . . . 22 Youngblood v. Board of Public Instruction of Bay County, 448 F.2d 770 (5th Cir. 1971) . . . . 19 Statutes and Rules: F.R. Civ. P. 23 ................ .. 16, 19, 22., F.R. Civ. P. 24 ............ 10 Local Rule 1, U.S. Dist. Ct., E.D. La. . . . . . . 15 Other Authorities: 4 Pomeroy, Equity Jurisprudence (5th Ed. 1941) . . 24 v IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT NO. 74-1672 BERYL N. JONES, et al., Plaintiffs, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Intervenor, vs. CADDO PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, et al., Defendant s-Appellees, JERRY ADAMS, et al., Applicants for Intervention- Appellants „ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana BRIEF FOR APPELLANTS ADAJMSf_jet_a Issues Presented for Review 1. Did the District Court err in denying appellants motion to intervene in this case where appellants are all members of the class on whose behalf this action was commenced by the original plaintiffs, and appellants objected to the settlement of the lawsuit upon the terms to which the original plaintiffs had agreed because, appellants alleged, that settle ment fails to protect the rights of the class? 2. Did the District Court err in striking from the docket the names of plaintiffs' original counsel without their filing motions to withdraw, endorsing a motion to substitute other counsel for them, before notice of the motion had reached them, and without, considering the necessity to insure adequate repre sentation of the class on whose beha]f this suit was brought? 3. Did the District Court err in approving a purported desegregation plan for the Caddo Parish school system by issu ance of a consent decree in this class action, without making findings and conclusions as to the constitutional sufficiency of the plan? Calhoun v. Cook, 487 F.2d 680 (5th Cir. 1973) . Statement This appeal brings to the Fifth Circuit another unfortunate, ugly instance in which a United States Court has become enmeshed * in a scheme to frustrate the effectuation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Background of the Case This is a classic school desegregation suit which was brought May 4, 1965. Its progress through the years is reflected in the major decisions of this Court which directly applied to -2- it, e.g., United States v. Jefferson County Bd. of Educ., 372 F.2d 836 (1966), aff'd en banc, 380 F.2d 385 (5th Cir.), cert, denied sub noin. Caddo Parish School Bd. v. United States, 389 U.S. 840 (1967); Hall v. St. Helena Parish School Bd., 417 F.2d 801 (5th Cir.), cert, denied, 396 U.S. 904 (1969); see Jones v. Caddo Parish School Bd., 421 F.2d 313 (5th Cir. 19/0) . Following this Court's Carter" remand in 1970, the District Court approved, as modified, a school board geographic zoning 2/ plan of desegregation (R. 12). That plan did not utilize pairing (con liguous or non—contiguous) , non-contiguous zoning, or pupil transportation to facilitate the elimination of racially identifiable schools in Caddo Parish. Minor modifications to the zone lines were made on several occasions (R. 12—16). Proceedings for Further' Desegregation On March 6, 1972, plaintiffs filed an Amended Motion for Further Relief (R. 22-33) seeking comprehensive desegregation of the Caddo Parish public schools in accordance with the prin ciples enunciated by the United States Supreme Court in Swann v. Charlotte—Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 402 U.S. 1 (1971) and companion cases. The school board responded on May 2, 1972 (R. 1/ Carter v. West Feliciana Parish School Bd., 396 U.S. 290 (1970). 2/ Citations to the reproduced Record filed with this Brief. The record initially transmitted by the District Court Clerk has been supplemented in accordance with this Court s Order of April 1, 1974. The entire Record as supplemented has been consecutively paginated in the lower left-hand corner of each page. -3- 16) but there were no further proceedings with respect to 3/school desegregation until March 5, 1973 when the school board moved to modify certain attendance zones (R. 17) . On March 20, 1973, plai.ntiff-intervenor United States of America filed a "Response" to plaintiffs' year-old Amended Motion for Further Relief (R. 34-40). The pleading noted, in pertinent part, that: ft]he desegregation plan approved by the Court on February 9, 1970 projected the continued existence of 22 all black or predominantly black schools which were all black schools under the dual school system. . . . Defendants' reports to the court reflect that these schools, and 4 other schools, are operated as all black or predominantly black schools at the pres ent time. The plan also projected that 19 all white or predominantly white schools under the dual school system would continue their racial identity under the present plan. Defendants' reports to the court indicate that the school system presently operates 15 all white or predominantly white schools. Moreover, the present desegregation plan does not utilize desegregation tools which have since specifically been approved . . . such as rezoning and pairing . . . . [R. 37] However, the government suggested the appointment of a bi-racial committee (whose, specific membership it proposed) to formulate 3/ A separate phase of the case involving the method of elec tion to the school board was tried during this period. On February 27, 1973 the matter was reassigned to District Judge Scott upon Judge Dawkins' recusal for reasons of health. -4- alternative desegregation plans for the school system. The "Response" appended a suggested Order to this effect (R. 41- 49), which was signed and issued the same date, March 20, 1973. The Order specifically recited the Court's finding that the school board had not carried its burden of showing that the one- race schools were not the result of past or present discrim inatory action (R. 44-45). 4/ The biracial committee commenced a series of meetings in the spring of 1973, leading ultimately to its submission to the District Court on June 1, 1973 of its proposed "desegregation plan" (R. 82-123). On June 11, 1973, plaintiffs filed objections to the committee's plan (R. 124-26) requesting disapproval of its student assignment provisions. Subsequently, the United States commented upon the committee's plan as follows (R. 130-34) [T]he student desegregation plan also proposes the continued operation of 34 one-race or predominantly one-race schools. With regard to these schools, the plan does not, as required by the March 20, 1973 order, state the facts relied upon to justify their continued operation, provide options to fully desegregate them, or state the feasibility of implementing all or parts of deseg regation plans for these schools on record in this case. . . . we are unable to respond at this time to the question whether the plan in regard to these schools conforms with constitutional standards. [R. 132-33] 4/ The United States cited Calhoun v. Cook, 469 F.2d 1067 (5th Cir. 1972) in support of its implied suggestion that the biracial committee should seek an agreed settlement of the case (R. 38-39). -5- The Caddo Parish School Board notified the District Court that it would accept the biracial committee's plan only if it were entered as a consent decree (R. 135-38). Also during the spring of 1973, plaintiffs retained edu cational experts to draw a desegregation proposal for Caddo Parish; this plan was presented to the biracial committee during its deliberations and thereafter filed with the District Court (R. 50-81). Three days after plaintiffs filed objections to the committee plan, they sought to add additional adult and minor named plaintiffs to the case, noting that many of the original minor plaintiffs were no longer attending the Caddo Parish schools (R. 127-29). Substitution of Counsel and Entry of Consent Decree It was at this juncture in the proceedings, while plain tiffs' motion to add additional representative parties, and their objections to the biracial committee plan, were both pending, that a "Motion to Enroll Substitute Counsel" for the plaintiffs was filed. This document was purportedly submitted by one of original counsel for the plaintiffs who was then a State official and unable to continue in his capacity as attorney for the plaintiffs. It was signed by his law partner, who was at that time a member of the Caddo Parish School Board. It contained neither the signatures of other counsel for the plain tiffs nor representations of knowledge or acquiescence in the motion. It was unsigned by the attorney sought to be substituted -6- i in place of all of these individuals, to represent the plain tiffs and the class on whose behalf suit was brought. It was accompanied by an affidavit signed by one of the original plaintiffs which indicated that three of the four original adult named plaintiffs (including one who had been dismissed from the lawsuit in 1965) desired to discharge their attorneys and employ new counsel. (R. 139-41). The day after the "motion" was filed, the Order was signed by Judge Scott striking original counsel from the case and substituting therefor Murphy W. Bell, Esq. as attorney for the plaintiffs and the class (R. 140). Newly enrolled counsel then filed a motion to strike from the record, the objections to the biracial committee plan 6/which had been filed previously (R. 154-58); this motion was granted the same day it was submitted; and on that same day, without any hearing or notice to the class members, the District 7/Court entered a consent decree approving the biracial committee's plan (R. 160-61) . 5/ In the meantime, upon receiving the "motion," several of the former attorneys for the original plaintiffs prepared and forwarded a response to the District Court (R. 150-52) in which they suggested that the original named plaintiffs were no longer fairly representative or could adequately protect the interests of the class, that the pending motion to add named plaintiffs should be granted, that new counsel should be allowed to represent the original named plaintiffs, that the merits of the plans should first be considered and determination of class representation matters postponed until after that determination was made. While the response was in the mail, the District Court denied the pending motion to add parties plaintiff (R. 144-45) . 6/ and 7/ continued on next page -7- The Attempted Intervention On November 19, 1973, the present appellants filed their Motion to Intervene as plaintiffs and proposed complaint (R. 170-74, 184-95). As elaborated upon in their supporting Memorandum (R. 175-83), appellants sought to comply with this Court's ruling in Hines v. Rapides Parish School Bd., 479 F.2d 762 (5th Cir. 1973) by specifying their claims and indicating what consideration, if any, had been given them by the District Court in the prior proceedings- The Motion for Leave to Inter vene asserted: Specifically, applicants for intervention seek to present to the court, for resolution on their merits, contentions which were abandoned by the original plaintiffs after July 13, 1973 and which have never been explicitly ruled upon by this Court; i.e., that the presently operative plan of desegregation in Caddo Parish is consti tutionally insufficient. [R. 172] Applicants for intervention and the class or subclass they represent are not adequately represented by the original plaintiffs herein. Nor are their interests protected by the United States of America, which was permitted to intervene as a plaintiff herein but which acceded to the approval and implementation of the current plan of operation despite its earlier expressed position that [continued] • <3/ Counsel for the present appellants first saw this motion when the record on this appeal was withdrawn for purposes of reproduction. 7/ The United States did not consent but endorsed entry of the Order in the following statement (R. 160): -8- [continued next page] such approval, without a showing to justify the continued existence of one-race schools, was improper. [R. 173] Present appellants also addressed, in their Motion and the supporting Memorandum, the question of timeliness: Intervention will not delay nor unduly prejudice the rights of the original parties. The presently operative plan of desegregation was approved by this Court on July 20, 1973, on the basis that none of the parties had filed objection thereto [the Court having permitted new counsel for original plaintiffs to withdraw previously filed objections] and without a determination that the plan meets constitutional standards. Intervening decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Calhoun v. Cook, No. 73-2020 (August 21, 1973) will require an evidentiary hearing and determination on the merits by this Court in any event. . . . [R. 173] On February 4, 1974, the District Court denied leave to intervene (R. 204—05), finding (a) that the original plaintiffs adequately represented the class, and (b) that the application was untimely. (R. 205). As a result, the public schools of Shreveport remain largely segregated under the District Court's Order, and unless appellants are permitted to intervene and challenge that plan, the schools will remain segregated unto eternity. [continued] The present posture of this lawsuit considered, the United States of America, intervenor here in, interjects no objection to ordering imple mentation of this plan, as is more fully set out in its response filed herein. That response, of course, had noted the inadequacy of the plan under Swann. -9- ARGUMENT I The District Court Erred In Denying Intervention Present appellants contend here, as they did before the District Court, that their intervention is supported by law and justice, and that their moving papers adequately complied not only with the technical requirements of F.R. Civ. P. 24(a) and (b) [governing both mandatory and permissive intervention], but also with the special considerations governing intervention in school desegregation actions outlined by this Court in Hines v. Rapides Parish School Bd., 479 F.2d 762 (5th Cir. 1973) . A detailed treatment of the Federal Rules issues can be found in our Memorandum submitted to the District Court (R. 175-83), and we respectfully refer the Court to that portion of the record. We shall not duplicate that discussion here but rather seek to elucidate the most compelling reasons why intervention should have been allowed. A. The interests sought to be represented by the appellants were not adequately protected by the original plaintiffs in the proceedings before the District Court____________ A classic ground for intervention is to permit the repre sentation and protection of interests which would be affected by the outcome of a lawsuit but would otherwise go unheard. Such a notion forms the basis of F.R. Civ. P. 24(a)(2), setting forth -10- the requirements for intervention as of right. There can be no question but that appellants will be affected by the progress of this litigation, for minor appellants are public schoolchildren of Caddo Parish whose school assignments, and chances for re ceiving their constitutional entitlement of an integrated education, are entirely dependent upon the orders of the District Court. Indeed, the lower court's holding is not grounded upon any lack of an affected interest in appellants, but rather upon the court's belief that appellants' interests were adequately represented by the existing parties. That belief is nothing less than incredible upon this record, which fairly shrieks of the inadequate representation afforded appellants and the class they sought to represent. This case is unlike most of those in which intervention law in school desegregation suits has been fashioned. Commonly, these have involved attempts by white parents to intervene in 1order to add their voice to that of the school authorities in resisting desegregation. E .g., Hatton v. County Dd. of Educ. of Maury County, 422 F.2d 457 (6th Cir. 1970) ; Stell v. Savannah- Chatham County Bd. of Educ., 333 F.2d 55 (5th Cir.), cert, denied, 379 U.S. 933 (1964). In such cases, traditionally intervention as of right has been disallowed since it was evident that no party could resist integration harder nor more effectively than the school boards themselves were already doing. See Hatton, supra, 422 F.2d at 461. And although appellants' right to ri -11- intervene stands on a different footing, the more recent holdings that white parents in the circumstances outlined above should be entitled to intervene cannot but support appellants' position here. See, e.g., Smuck v. Hobson, 408 F.2d 175 (D.C. Cir. 1968) , rev1g 44 F.R.D. 18 (D.D.C. 1968) ; Dowell v. School Bd■ of Oklahoma City, 430 F.2d 865 (10th Cir. 1970). In the instant case, however, the situation is the converse of that in the cases involving intervention by white parents. The record clearly establishes that appellants met their "minimal burden" of demonstrating that representation of their interests by the original plaintiffs "may be inadequate." Trbovich v. United Mine Workers of America, 404 U.S. 528, 538 n.10 (1972) . Here, appellants noted in their moving papers that they joined in objections to the biracial committee plan originally filed by the plaintiffs (R. 174). Their interest was the approval of a constitutional plan of desegregation for Caddo Parish, which they asserted was not provided by the biracial committee's sub mission. They posited no hypothetical lack of representation, for their request to intervene was filed after the original plaintiffs withdrew the objections and consented to the entry of a decree which leaves 34 Caddo Parish schools with one-race 8/student bodies. 8/ We treat the issue of timeliness below, but we pause here to emphasize that the request to intervene was not untimely simply because it was post-judgment. See Cascade Natural Gas Corp. v. El Paso Natural Gas Co., 386 U.S. 129 (1967); Atlantis Development Corp. v. United States, 379 F.2d 818 (5th Cir. 1967). -12- r The point can be stated almost syllogistically. Appellants claim that the biracial committee plan is unconstitutional. At the time the District Court approved the plan, no party to the lawsuit had expressed this position on the record, previous objections having been withdrawn. The District Court made no finding as to the constitutionality of the plan when it approved it (R. 160-61). Thus, appellants' interests were not only not adequately represented before the District Court at the time of judgment: their concerns were not even voiced! Despite these facts, the District Court's order denying intervention offers no explanation for its bald conclusion that "[c]onsidering the record, the Court finds that the original plaintiffs adequately represent the class" (R, 205). Under rhe circumstances, therefore, the order must be reversed. B. Appellants complied with the requirements of Hines v. Rapides Parish School Bd., supra.____________________ This Circuit has required particular clarity of inter vention papers in school desegregation cases, to the ends of judicial economy and prompt adjudication. Hines v. Rapides Parish School Bd., supra; Lee v. Macon County Bd. of Educ., 482 F.2d 1253 (5th Cir. 1973). See Calhoun v. Cook, supra, 487 F.2d at 683. Appellants were aware of these decisions at the time of their attempted intervention, and complied with them. Hines describes the determinations which must be made by district courts passing upon applications to intervene in school -13- I desegregation cases, and which pleadings should facilitate, as follows (479 F.2d, at 765): The district court could then determine whether these matters had been previously raised and resolved and/or whether the issues sought to be presented by the new group were currently known to the court and parties in the initial suit. If the court determined that the issues these new plaintiffs sought to present had been previously determined or if it found that the parties in the original action were aware of these issues and completely com petent to represent the interests of the new group, it could deny intervention. [emphasis supplied] The pleadings of the appellants state the issues with clarity. The issues not resolved in the litigation were the constitutionality of the biracial committee's plan and the adequacy of continuing class representation by the original plaintiffs. The application to intervene did not rest upon allegations of collusion in the entry of the consent decree, as did such requests, in part, in Calhoun v. Cook, supra, see 487 F.2d, at 683. Under the circumstances of this case, there fore, the pleadings need not be reframed, ibid., and this Court should return the case to the District Court with directions to permit intervention. C. Intervention would have corrected the error committed by the District Court in the substitution of counsel.______ Intervention by appellants was additionally desirable be cause it would have dissipated the effects of the District Court's failure to protect the interests of the class on whose -14- behalf this suit was brought, both at the time the District Court permitted substitution of counsel, and at the time it allowed withdrawal of objections to the biracial committee plan previously filed and simultaneously entered a consent decree approving the plan. This record bears eloquent witness to the unfortunate failure of the District Court, to shoulder its responsibility under the Constitution and laws of the United States. Indeed, it is euphemistic to term the 1970 proceedings in this case as "highly irregular." The actions of the District Court provide anything but a lesson in due process. Plaintiffs' Amended Motion for Further Relief, for example, elicited no judicial response whatsoever for more than a year. The same day the United States filed its Response thereto, how ever, suggesting the novel procedure of placing responsibility for the development of a new plan not upon the school authorities but upon a "citizens committee," the Court issued an Order to this effect. Subsequently, without awaiting or seeking responses from all of plaintiffs' counsel in this class action, the Court within one day granted a highly unusual motion to strike all of plaintiffs' counsel from the case and substitute in their stead a newcomer to the litigation, nonresident within the judicial district. Compare, e.g., Local Rule 1(H)(1), U.S. Dist. Ct., E.D. La • -15- Since there was pending before the District Court at that time, a motion to add additional representative parties plain tiff which specifically noted that many of the minor original plaintiffs no longer attended Caddo Parish public schools the District Court should have been alerted to the problems of class representation which needed to be resolved. The District Court only compounded the error when, after receiving a Response from some of plaintiffs’ original counsel which expressed doubt that original plaintiffs adequately represented the class (R. 150), it did not reconsider its Order substituting counsel; and when it subsequently permitted withdrawal of the objections to the biracial committee plan and compromised this class action without either notice or hearing. F.R. Civ. P. 23; Calhoun v. Cook, supra. These defects could have been vitiated by the granting of intervention to appellants, for the District Court could then have entertained the necessary proceedings and held the necessary hearings to determine the constitutionality of the committee plan. The denial of intervention thus serves to carry other District Court errors forward in this cause and makes reversal even more critical. D. The intervention was timely. The District Court denied intervention on two grounds: that appellants' interests were adequately represented throughout the proceedings (see above) and that, "[a]t any rate, the Motion -16- to Intervene comes too late" (R. 205). This second basis for decision is no more satisfactory than the first. If the District Court meant that the intervention would have been timely only if filed before entry of its consent judg ment, it was requiring virtually a physical impossibility as well as a legal irrelevancy. Appellants include many of the individuals sought to be added as plaintiffs prior to the substitution of counsel on July 13, 1973. Their present coun sel were not served with the motion to substitute counsel until four days prior to the entry of the consent judgment; they did not become aware that the District Ccurt had granted it (without allowing them an opportunity to respond) until after- the consent decree was issued on July 20, 1973. The District Court's order denying the motion to add additional plaintiffs was denied just two days prior thereto, on July 18, but again counsel for appel lants did not receive notice of this action until after the consent judgment was entered. Of course, there is no legal support for the notion that post-judgment interventions are per se untimely. Indeed, this case bears a striking resemblance to the leading decision in the area, Cascade Natural Gas Corp. v. El Paso Natural Gas Co., supra. There, as here, the district court was confronted with the problems of "dismantling an illegal structure." Also, as here, the applicants asserted an interest in how the dismantling -17- should be accomplished, pointing out the potential injury that would be done if the court proceeded in implementing the divestiture plan as proposed by the United States. Significantly, after a costly and time-consuming appeal prosecuted by the applicants, they were permitted intervention by the Supreme Court after entry of a consent decree. The District Court's conclusion is no more well-founded in general terms. Courts have been especially reluctant to dispose of applications for intervention on grounds of untime liness. E_. cj_., Cameron v. President. & Fellows, 157 F.2d 993 (1st Cir. 1946) ; Walpert v. Bart, 44 F.R.D. 359, 361 (D. Md. 1968). The most important interests served by time requirements for intervention are already satisfied here: finality and avoidance of prejudice to opposing parties. As to considerations of finality, it is true that the application to intervene came after the plan of the biracial committee had been implemented in Shreveport for the 1973-74 school year. However, unlike other types of litigation, decrees in school desegregation cases are subject to repeated modification and reopening to insure compliance with current legal standards. See Ellis v. Board of Public Instruction of Orange County, 465 F.2d 878, 879-80 (5th Cir. 1972), cert, denied, 410 U.S. 966 (1973). It cannot fairly be maintained that intervention by -18- 1 appellants was sought after this case had "come to rest," since in this Circuit school desegregation suits must be maintained on the docket for at least three years following entry of supposedly "terminal" decrees, Youngblood v. Board of Public Instruction of Bay County, 448 F.2d 770 (5th Cir. 1971) ; Steele v. Board of Public_Instruction of Leon County, 448 F.2d 767 (5th Cir. 1971); V.'right v. Board of Public Instruction of Alachua County, 445 F.2d 1397 (5th Cir. 1971), and even thereafter may be reopened upon motion. See, e.g., United States v. Hinds County School Bd. [Lauderdale County School Dist.], No. 28030 (5th Cir., March 20, 1974) . Nor would intervention, if granted when sought or if ordered now, prejudice the rights of the other parties. Clearly the Caddo Parish school authorities have no right to continue operating an unconstitutional school system. Nor have the original plaintiffs any right to defeat the constitutional rights of the class of minor schoolchildren in the Parish by acquiescing in such a plan. Appellants have not sought midyear disruption of the biracial committee plan so the parties did not have to face possible prejudice of that nature, if prejudice to rights it is. Compare Alexander v. Holmes County Bd. of Educ., 396 U.S. 19 (1969); Carter v. West Feliciana Parish School Bd., 396 U.S. 226 (1969), 396 U.S. 290 (1970). Furthermore, this case is clearly controlled by Rule 23, F.R. Civ. P. as authoritatively interpreted in Calhoun v. Cook, -19- l supra, to invalidate approval of desegregation plans by entry of consent decrees. Thus, if the minimal legal requirements are to be carried out in this case, there must be further hearings and findings about the constitutionality of the biracial committee plan by the District Court. Those hearings had not been scheduled or held at the time appellants sought to intervene, nor have they been scheduled or held since that time. For this reason, none of the other parties to this lawsuit would have or will suffer the slightest prejudice from the intervention as plaintiffs of the appellants at this time. II. This Case Should Be Remanded To Another District Judge With Instructions To Disapprove The Biracial Committee Plan In the circumstances of this case, we believe the Court must go farther than merely reversing the District Court's denial of intervention. We respectfully suggest the Court's heavy responsibility to insure enforcement of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that it vacate the Order approving the bi racial committe's plan and remand the matter for further pro ceedings before another district judge, with instructions that the committee plan is facially insufficient on this record to meet the constitutional mandate. -20- A. A reversal of the intervention ruling alone, or with a remand to the District Court to reconsider its approval of the biracial committee plain will lead only to delay and is unnecessary since the holding and principles of Calhoun v. Cook, 487 F.2d 680 (5th Cir. 1973), are so clearly controlling._______________________ ___________ A ruling by this Court that appellants should have been permitted to intervene but which did not also vacate the District Court's consent judgment approving the biracial committee plan for Caddo Parish would insure yet another delay in the effectuation of the Fourteenth Amendment in the parish's school system. We submit that, inasmuch as appellants sought to intervene to challenge the plan and even brought this Court's disapproval of consent decrees in school desegregation cases to the attention of the District Court, and since Calhoun v. Cook, supra, is so clearly applicable to the facts of this suit, that this Court should vacate the lower court's approval of the plan and obviate unnecessary delay which would result from remanding to the District Court for consideration in light of Calhoun and with the participation of appellants as intervenors. As this Court said in Calhoun: At least some of the attorneys representing the original plaintiffs assert no such compromise was made. The attempted inter venors sought to demonstrate that still other parties whom they assert are class members would object. In these circumstances the advisability of approval and the viability of the plan submitted could not properly be adjudicated on the basis oil Rule 23(e) [, F.R. Civ. P.] . (487 F. 2d, at 682) Calhoun is but the logical extension of the settled principle that the judgment of a court approving a settlement of a class 21- action under Rule 23(e) must be founded on facts. Cohen v. Young, 127 F.2d 721 (6th Cir. 1942); Sertic v. Cuyahoga Lake, etc., Carpenters Dist. Council, 459 F.2d 579 (6th Cir. 1972); cf. Ashback v. Kirtley, 289 F.2d 159 (8th Cir. 1961) . Here, of course, there was no factual presentation by opponents of the plan nor did the District Court make factual findings about the proposals before it, nor draw conclusions as to the legal and 9/constitutional sufficiency of the plan embodied in the decree. The acquiescence of counsel for the United States, the defendants, and the named representative plaintiffs did not relieve the District Court of its obligation to hear evidence and make findings. Cohen v. Young, sip ra. Accord, Young v. Katz, 447 F.2d 431 (5th Cir. 1971). When presented with the consent decree and the acquiescence of the existing parties, it was the District Court's obligation — even apart from the peculiar circumstances of withdrawal of previous objections, etc. — to examine the proposal as the "guardian" of the rights of the absent class members affected by the judgment. Norman v. McKee, 431 F.2d 769, 774 (9th Cir. 1970). For a number of reasons, this role is particularly crit- 9/ The District Court refers to the proceedings of the biracial committee as if to suggest that the presentation of appellants' objections and proposed plan to that body was a sufficient sub stitute for judicial consideration (R. 204-05). But the judicial power, and judicial responsibility, is non—delegable. Cf. Calhoun v. Cook, supra, 487 F.2d, at 683. -22- ical in school desegregation cases. The first reason stems from the very nature of class actions to enforce Fourteenth Amendment rights under Brown v. Board of Educ., 347 U.S. 483 (1954). This Court's illuminating decision in Flax v. Potts, 313 F.2d 284 (5th Cir. 1963), shows that by the vary nature of the controversy, litigation attacking a school system's practice of racial discrimination cannot be limited in its operative effect to individual plaintiffs. Decrees in cases challenging entrenched dual systems of segregation touch upon and determine whether or not discriminatory practices will continue or be eliminated for each pupil i.n the system. In some types of class action litigation non-participating members of the class may exercise an option not to be bound by the litigation and "opt out" of a case. No such choice is avail— â-)le to students attending a public school system operated as a dual system. Either the system is transformed into a unitary system where all vestiges of discrimination are eliminated or it continues as an unconstitutional system for all the pupils. Another reason the court must function as a guardian for absent parties in considering compromise of a school case is the fact that the case involves the precious constitutional rights of persons who are children unable to protect their own rights. The right of a student not to be segregated on racial ^f^c^^ds in schools so maintained is indeed so fundamental and -23- pervasive that it is embraced in the concept of due process of law." Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1, 19 (1958). Minors, unable to protect their own rights in court, must be the subject of the special solicitude and protection of courts of equity. The tradition of equity is that infants are "wards of the court." 4 Pomeroy, Equity Jurisprudence 871 (5th Ed. 1941). Still another reason proposed settlements of school segregation litigation must be scrutinized with great care is that resistance to implementation of the Brown decision has been so widespread that the courts must constantly guard against schemes to avoid and evade the law of school desegregation. The Court is familiar with the history of interposition resolutions, massive resistance laws, school closing, pupil placement laws, tuition grants, and other overt and covert plans to evade and avoid compliance with Brown. Currently there is widespread political activity against "busing" to promote school desegre gation. Some black people, as well as white people, have advocated continuing segregation — particularly those who, as have some of the actors in the instant case, have attained positions within the political apparatus still dominated by whites. In this situation the courts' task of enforcing the Constitution requires a difficult vigilance to ensure that court-approved compromises of school cases do not accomplish indirectly that which the interposition resolutions failed to achieve by direct defiance of Brown. -24- Yet such is clearly the result of the proceedings below, in which the District Court, which had every reason to doubt the validity of the consent judgment, ignored its responsibilities to the absent class members. This action by the lower court amounts to plain error which is subject to correction on this appeal. As this Court said in 1971, affirming a district court's order refusing to permit plaintiffs to dismiss a class action voting rights suit, . . . having instituted a public lawsuit to secure rectification for a constitutional wrong of wide dimension, [plaintiffs] cannot privately determine its destiny. Sheffield v. Itawamba County Bd. of Supervisors, 43 9 F.2d 3 5, 36 (5th Cir. 1971). The discretionary powers of the District Court in determining whether to approve a proposed settlement are necessarily limited by the Court's duty to avoid approval of a decree which affirmatively authorizes continued discrimin ation (Flax v. Potts, supra; Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948)) . In sum, the District Court's action in approving the biracial committee's plan because it had the "consent" of the parties, cannot be reconciled with the Court's obligations under the Fourteenth Amendment and the Judicial Code. ’That order must be vacated and the cause remanded with instructions to permit intervention, to hold hearings and to make findings in support of the ultimate decree of the court. 25- i- B. This Court should also instruct the District Court on remand that the biracial committee plan is unconstitutionally insufficient on this record because it fails to desegregate the Caddo Parish public schools.____________________________ We further submit that this Court's decision should also eliminate the necessity for the District Court to delay the implementation of a comprehensive desegregation plan for Caddo Parish by holding hearings or taking additional time to deter mine whether the biracial committee plan could be constitutional. The fatal deficiencies of the settlement proposal to eliminate racial segregation of pupils attending the schools of the Caddo Parish system are evident and apparent on the face of the plan. Some objections to the plan would require factual inquiry; however, looking at the face of the plan and at the documents in this record, it is clear that the plan's major defects preclude any approval under this Court's governing precedents. The plan reveals it will leave 34 one-race schools in Caddo Parish; it does not employ any assignment technique except contiguous geographic zoning (often misnamed the "neigh borhood school" method of assignment). It was characterized by the Response of the United States, a signatory to the consent decree, as constitutionally inadequate for its f&ilure to explain why alternate desegregation proposals for these schools, contained in the plaintiffs' plan (filed prior to removal of plaintiffs' counsel) of even the 1969 IIEW plan, were not feasible. No further explanation was ever offered or accepted. -26- Anyone familiar with the course of the development of school desegregation law in this Circuit would recognize that more than four years ago — a year before the Swann decision — this Court required school districts at a minimum to pair contiguous segregated schools. Caddo Parish has not yet met the standards applied in such cases as Allen v. Board of Public Instruction of Broward County, 432 F.2d 362, 367 (5th Cir. 1970); Pate v. Dade County School Bd., 434 F.2d 1141 (5th Cir. 1970); Bradley v. Board of Public Instruction of Pinellas County, 431 F.2d 1377 (5th Cir. 1970); Wright v. Board of puklic _Jjnstruction of Alachua County, 431 F.2d 1200 (5th Cir. 19,70) ; Henry v. Clarksdale Municipal Separate School Dist., 433. F.2d 387 (5th Cir. 1.970); Singleton v. Jackson Municipal Sepa rate S choo1 D i s t., 432 F.2d 927 (5th Cir. 1970). Now, under Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklcnburq Bd. of Educ., 402 U.S. 1 (1971) and Davis v. Board of School Comm'rs of Mobile, 402 U.S. 33 (1971), the law requires the use of such remedial techniques as busing, non—contiguous zones, grouping of schools and the like if necessary to desegregate. See Cisneros v. Corpus Cnristi Independent School Dist., 467 F.2d 142 (5th Cir. 19/2) ; United. States v. Texas Educ. Agency, 467 F.2d 848 (5th Cir. 1972). The Caddo Parish settlement plan approved by the District Court does not even remotely approach compliance with this standard. The plan is unconstitutional on its face as a matter of law. -27- Each of the black children attending the schools of Caddo Parish has a "personal and present" constitutional right to equal protection of the laws. Each of these children has a right to require that the defendants operate the public schools in accordance with the Constitution. No one has a right to demand otherwise. "The Constitution confers upon no individual the right to demand action by the State which results in the denial of equal protection of the laws to other individuals." Shelley v. Kraemer, supra, 334 U.S., at 22. The District Court had no power to decree otherwise, by "consent" of anyone. Flak v. Potts, supra. Recently, this Court opined that in this case, "[e]ight years of litigation between the original parties has final],y come to an end" (R. 164) . Unfortunately that statement is wrong. There is but one way to brxng the case to a lawful end and that is to desegregate the Caddo Parish public schools as required by the Constitution. C. This case should be remanded with instructions that it be transferred to another district judge._____________ It has often been remarked that courts should avoid the appearance of impropriety as well as impropriety itself. Cf., e.g., United States v. Quattrone, 149 F. Supp. 240 (D.D.C. 1957) . It is in accord with this spirit that appellants reluctantly and respectfully advise this Court that here, the appearance of impropriety is great; and we respectfully suggest that it -28- would be appropriate for further proceedings on remand in this matter to be conducted before another district judge, upon the direction of this Court in the exercise of its supervisory- jurisdiction and responsibility. We do not believe that the strange history of these proceed ings, nor the apparent disregard by the District Court of its obligations toward the class, need be repeated. We submit, however, that the events are subject to interpretation which does not reflect well upon the Courts of the United States. We allege no impropriety nor do we possess extralegal evidence of any; yet we cannot brand such an interpretation of the events as irrational. But the question can best be removed from these proceedings, we submit, by transferring them to another district judge or by this Court retaining jurisdiction to approve a constitutional plan of operation for the Caddo Parish schools. CONCLUSION WI-IEREFOP.E, for the foregoing reasons, appellants respec- fully pray that the Order of the District Court denying intervention be reversed, that the Order of the District Court approving the desegregation plan of the biracial committee be vacated, that either jurisdiction of the cause be retained by this Court or the cause be remanded to another district judge with instructions to consider the plaintiffs' plan and any new plan to be submitted by either the United States or the school board, to make findings -29 thereon, and to approve and supervise the implementation of a plan which removes all vestiges of the dual system from Caddo Parish, as required by the Fourteenth Amendment, the decisions of the United States Supreme Court and of this Court. Appellants further respectfully pray that this Court grant them reasonable attorneys' fees in connection with this appeal Northcross v. Board of Educ. of Memphis, 412 U.S. 427 (1973), as well as their costs. Respectfully submitted. HILRY HUCKABY, III 501 Petroleum Tower Shreveport, Louisiana 71101 JACK GREENBERG JAMES M. NABRIT, III NORMAN J. CHACHKIN MARGRETT FORD 10 Columbus Circle New York, New York 10019 Attorneys for Appellants ADAMS, et al. -30- CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE i. I hereby certify that on this 15th day of April, 1974, I served two copies of the Brief for Appellants Adams, et al. upon counsel for the appellees herein, by depositing same in the United States mail, first class postage prepaid, addressed to each as follows: Murphy W. Bell, Esq. 617 North Boulevard Baton Rouge, Louisiana John R. Pleasant, Esq. 1004 Mid South Towers P. O. Drawer 1092 Shreveport, Louisiana 71163 Hon. Donald E. Walter, Esq. United States Attorney Federal Building Shreveport, Louisiana 71101 Brian Landsberg, Esq. Civil Rights Division Department of Justice Washington, D.C. 20530 -31-