Wrigth v. Council of the City of Emporia Memorandum for the United States as Amicus Curiae
Public Court Documents
February 29, 1972

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Brief Collection, LDF Court Filings. Wrigth v. Council of the City of Emporia Memorandum for the United States as Amicus Curiae, 1972. 8e9f0b97-c99a-ee11-be36-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/9ea41c2c-cd8f-4e54-8175-ec1773fbb147/wrigth-v-council-of-the-city-of-emporia-memorandum-for-the-united-states-as-amicus-curiae. Accessed May 07, 2025.
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No. 70-188 ,gn to jgttptttitt flfanrt of to ® to£ plates October Term, 1971 P ecola A nnette W right, et al., petitioners v : ' Council oe the City op E mporia, et al. ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOB TEE FOURTE CIRCUIT MEMORANDUM FOR THE UNITED STATES AS AMICUS CURIAE E R W IN N. G R ISW O L D , Solicitor General, D A V ID L. N O R M A N , Assistant Attorney General, L A W R E N C E G. W A L L A C E , Deputy SoUcitor General, A . R A Y M O N D R A N D O L P H , Jr., Assistant to the SoUcitor General,, T H O M A S M . K E E L IN G , Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530. I N D E X Page Interest of the United States____________________ 1 Statement____________________________________ 1 Argument_____________________________________ 11 Conclusion____________________________________ 17 CITATIONS Cases: Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Educa tion, 396 U.S. 19_________________________ 17 Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483____________________________________2,11,14 Brown v. Board of Education, 349 U.S. 294__ 2, 17 Burleson v. County Board of Election Com missioners of Jefferson County, 308 F. Supp. 352, affirmed, 432 F. 2d 1356____________ 13 Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U.S. 339_________ 12 Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, 391 U.S. 430_________3,12, 13, 14, 16, 17 Lee and United States v. Macon County Board of Education, 448 F. 2d 746______________ 13 Monroe v. Board of Commissioners, 391 U.S. 450____________________________________ 9, 10 North Carolina State Board of Education v. Swann, 402 U.S. 43_______________________12,13 Stout and United States v. Jefferson County Board of Education, 448 F. 2d 403_________ 13 Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Edu cation, 402 U.S. 1______________________ 15 a) 4 .5.7- 289— 72- -1 II Statutes: 42 U.S.C.: Paw 2000c________________________________ 1 2000d________________________________ 1 Ya. Code Ann.: § 15.1-978____________________________ 2 § 15.1-983____________________________ 2 §22-1____________________________ 3 § 22-7________________________________ 3 § 22-93 § 22-99 § 22- 100. 1- 22- 100.2 CO CO CO J tt Hit dfmtrl af ille U n iM October Term, 1971 No. 70-188 P ecola A nnette W right, et al., petitioners v. Council of the City of E mporia, et al. ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO TEE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT MEMORANDUM FOR THE UNITED STATES AS AMICUS CUEIAE i n t e r e s t o f t h e u n it e d s t a t e s The United States has substantial responsibility under 42 U.S.C. 2000e-6, and 2000d in the area of school desegregation. The outcome of this case will affect that enforcement responsibility. While the gov ernment did not participate in this case in the courts below, the issues presented are related to those pre sented in United States v. Scotland Neck City Board of Education, No. 70-130, now pending before this Court. STATEMENT In 1965, the schools in Greensville County, Virginia, were completely segregated on the basis of race (App. 15a). All of the white children attended schools in Emporia, a community located near the center of the (i) 2 county; all of the black children attended either schools in the outlying county or Greensville County Training School, an elementary school in Emporia I App. 15a, 130a). In March 1965, petitioners—black school children living in the county and their parents or guardians— sued the county School Board to require compliance with Brown I 1 and Brown I I 2 (App. 2a -lla ). One month later the Board proposed a freedom-of-choiee plan (App. 16a). The district court approved this plan in January 1966, but cautioned that the “ plan must be tested * * * by the manner in which it op erates to provide opportunities for a desegregated education” and is “ subject to review and modification in the light of its operation” (App. 24a). By the 1967-68 school year very little desegregation had resulted. At this time there were 4146 children enrolled in public schools in the comity; 62 percent o f the children were black, 38 percent were white (App. 294a). The five formerly all-black schools, which included four elementary schools and one high school, were still attended only by black children (id.). In the two formerly all-white schools (a high school and an elementary school), both of which were in Emporia, 94 percent of the students were white (id.). The dual school system thus remained virtually intact. In the summer preceding the 1967-68 school year, the Town of Emporia became a city of the second class3 and thereby became obligated to maintain a 1 347 U.S. 483. 2 349 U.S. 294. 3 V.a. Code Ann. § 15.1-978, see especially § 15.1-983. 3 general system of free public schools (App. 118a, 226a-227a).4 The newly-appointed city school board then began negotiations with county officials to work out a satisfactory educational arrangement for city residents (App. 227a-228a).5 Meanwhile, for all the children in the county, including those living in Em poria, the traditional attendance pattern continued (App. 227a, 294a). When the county Board of Supervisors rejected a proposal for a joint county-city operation (App. 30a), the city, in April 1968, agreed that the Greensville County School Board would continue to provide pub lic schools for the City of Emporia (ApjD. 32a-36a). Expressing dissatisfaction with this arrangement, city officials contended that they had been forced into the agreement by the threat of the county officials to ter minate public school services to students residing in the city (App. 305a). Between April 1968 and June 1969, however, no efforts were made to terminate the agreement nor were any studies conducted concerning the feasibility of other methods of operating the schools (App. 136a, 147a.-149a). In the summer of 1968, after this Court’s decision in Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, 391 U.S. 430, petitioners filed a motion for further relief seeking a netv desegregation plan for the Greensville County schools that would promise realistically to convert the school system to a unitary non-racial operation (App. 37a). The district court 4Va. Code Ann. §22-1 and §22-93. 5 Virginia law provided several alternative methods o f school operation. Va. Code Ann. §§ 22-7, 22-99, and 22-100.1 to 22-100.2; see also Petitioners’ Brief, at p. 5 n. 6; App. 300a. 4 ordered the county School Board to prepare such a desegregation plan (App. 50a). After various delays, the Board in January 1969 submitted a plan that, if accepted, would have continued freedom-of-choice with minor modifications (App. 38a, 51a). After further hearings and other proceedings, dur ing which the county Board submitted a report and petitioners proposed a plan for desegregating the county schools, the court on June 23, 1969, found that the county Board’s plan would merely substitute one segregated system for another (App. 46a-47a, 50a-52a). The court therefore ordered the county Board to implement petitioners’ plan for the upcoming 1969-1970 school year (App. 52a-53a). This plan elimi nated the dual attendance patterns by a zoning-pairing arrangement for students in grades 1-4, who would attend the four formerly all-black elementary schools, only one of which was in Emporia; grades 5-6 would be served by the formerly all-white Emporia Ele mentary School; grades 7-9 would be served by the formerly all-black Wyatt High School in the county; and students in grades 10-12 would attend the for merly all-white Greensville County High School in Emporia (App. 46a-47a).° Two weeks later, on July 7, 1969, the city Council sent a letter to the county Board of Supervisors stat ing in part (App. 56a) : 6 7 6 At no time during the pendency o f the above matter did the city Council or the city School Board meet, or otherwise confer, with the county officials in an attempt to devise a differ ent plan o f student assignment to the county schools (App. 182a-183a, 193a). 7 See also App. 163a, 235a. 5 In 1967-68 when the then Town of Emporia, through its governing body, elected to become a city of the second class, it was the considered opinion of the Council that the educational interest of Emporia Citizens, their children and those of the citizens and children of Greensville County, could best be served by continuing a combined City-County school division, thus giv ing students from both political subdivisions full benefits of a larger school system. The letter then stated that the court-ordered desegre gation plan had changed the situation to such an ex tent that the city had decided to establish a separate system (App. 57a). The city offered several reasons for this decision: (1) the court’s order required “ massive relocation of school classes,” “ excessive bus sing of students,” 8 mixing of students without regard to “ individual scholastic accomplishment or ability” ; 9 and (2) the city students did not contribute to the “ inbalance” [sic] in the school system10 (App. 57a). The Mayor later testified that city officials desired to prevent the emergence of a private school system and 8 The three elementary schools located in the county were within a mile or two o f the city limits (App. 132a, 133a). 9 The only “ ability grouping” plan ever considered by the County School Board, so far as the record indicates, was a proposal presented after the district court hearing of Febru ary 1969. Apparently, no such assignment plan had ever been used by the school system in the past (App. 40a-45a). 10 The record, however, is to the contrary. In the 1968-1969 school year, 543 white and 580 black students resided in the city (App. 304a) yet only 98 black students attended the two white schools in the city, while 387 black and no white students attended Greensville County Training School, which was also located in Emporia (App. 130a, 298a). 6 wanted to “ kill this private school business before it got started” (App. 121a-122a). The city’s letter concluded by proposing termina tion of the existing city-county agreements, establish ment of a procedure for equity settlement, and im mediate transfer of title to all school property “ in the Corporate Limits” to the city (App. 58a-60a). Stu dent transfers from the county would be accepted by the city on a tuition, no transportation basis (App. 60a).11 The county School Board refused to agree because of its obligations under the district court’s order and because “ this Board believes that such action is not in the best interest of the children in Greensville County * * * ” (App. 69a). The State Board of Ed ucation tabled the city’s request to establish the city as a school division “ in light of matters pending in the federal court” (App. 198a).12 I f the city’s proposals had been implemented, three schools—Emporia Elementary, Greensville County Training, and Greensville County High School—would 11 The city officials later stated that they would not allow transfers until they were permitted to do so by the district court (App. 319a n. 3). 12 Meanwhile, at the request o f the county School Board, the district court modified the desegregation plan on July 30, 1969 (App. 85a). The modified plan established the following at tendance pattern : Grades and school: Located in 1-2-3, Emporia Elementary_________________________________ City. 4- 5, Moton Elementary_____________________________________ County. 5- 6, Belfield Elementary____________________________________ County. 7, Zion Elementary--------------------------------------------------------------- County. 8-9, Junior High (Wyatt High)---------------------------------------------County. 10-11-12, Senior High (Greensville County High)____________City. Special Education, County Training_________________________ City. 7 have been removed from the county system. These schools, which had served 2111 students in 1967-1968 (App. 294a), would be available for the 1123 city stu dents in the school year beginning in 1969 (App. 304a).13 The other four schools in the County-—Moton, Zion, Bel field and Wyatt High School, which had served a total of 2025 students (all black) in 1967- 1968—would be available in 1969 for the remaining 2616 students in the County (App. 304a). Moreover, with separate city and county school sys tems, 52 percent, of the city’s students would be black and 48 percent would be white,14 while 72 percent of the county’s students would be black and 28 percent would be white 15 (App. 304a). The formerly all-white city high school would have a white majority (52 percent white and 48 percent black) (App. 304a). I f all schools in the county were operated as a single system, as they had been in the preceding years when the stu dents were segregated on the basis of race, 66 percent of the students would be black, and 34 percent would be white (App. 304a).16 13 The Mayor o f Emporia testified that the city system would not need, and did not desire, to use the formerly all-black Greensville County Training School, which he said was “ in bad shape” (App. 120a, 134a). He further testified that the three elementary schools located in the county were on “ inferior sites” and situated in “ out-of-the-way places” (App. 133a). 14 There would be 580 black students and 543 white students (App. 304a). 15 There would be 1888 black students and 728 white students (App. 304a). 16 There would be 2477 black students and 1282 white students, (App. 304a). 457 - 280— 72- -2 8 On August 1, 1969, petitioners filed a supplemental complaint naming the city Council and city school board members as defendants and seeking to enjoin them from forming a separate school system (App. 84a-87a). After a hearing, the district court issued a preliminary injunction on August 8, 1969, prohibiting the city officials from interfering with implementa tion of the court’s previous order (App. 195a). See n. 6 supra). Three months later, the city began a study to deter mine the feasibility of operating a separate city school system (App. 200a). The proposed school budget and educational program submitted on December 3, 1969, after completion of the study (App. 200a, 202a-203a), indicated that the city would have more wealth per child than the county (App. 208a), but that the city system would be so small17 that operation would be more costly (App. 207a-208a). The proposed budget would have required a 30 percent increase in city taxes in order to support the system (App. 291a). After a hearing on December 8, 1969, the district court issued an opinion and order on March 2, 1970, enjoining operation of a separate city school system until further order of the court (App. 293a, 310a). The court held that the city officials were successors, at least in part, to the powers of the county officials 17 The city school board’s expert testified that the optimum high school would be 1200-1500 students (App, 283a). Neither the county nor the city, i f divided, would approach that stu dent population (App. 301a, 305a). In the combined system, however, there would be 1428 students in grades 8-12 (App 297a). 9 and, thdrdfore, subject to the previous desegregation decree. Accordingly, the court treated the city offi cials’ application as a motion to modify that decree (App. 298a-303a). Considering' the proposal on that basis, the court found that establishment of a separate city system would cause a substantial shift in the racial composi tion of the schools under the existing plan.18 The city system would have an elementary school with a slight black majority and a high school with a slight white majority; 19 all grades in the county, on the other hand, would be more than two-thirds black (App. 30-la-305a). The city’s proposal would have adverse effects on the remaining county system (App. 306a- 307a) and “ would make the successful operation of the [existing] unitary plan even more unlikely” (App. 306a). The court also found that the motives of the city officials for their decision were mixed, but that race was a factor since the city acted in order to make the schools more attractive to white residents so that they would not send their children to private schools, as they might have done if the schools were operated in accordance with the court’s desegregation eider (App. 305a, 307a). Relying on Monroe v. Board of Commissioners, 391 U.S. 450, the court concluded that it could not accept the city’s proposal because the City could not show “ that such a plan will further rather than delay eon- 18 See p. 7 supra. 19 The white percentage could be expected to increase if, as the city officials predicted, students returned to the city schools from private schools (App. 304a). 10 version to a unitary, nonracial, nondiscriminatory school system,” 391 U.S. at 459 (App. 308a). The court noted, however, that there were a number of alterna tive methods of operation open to the city, including joint city-county operation or operation of a separate city system if it would not “ so prejudice the prospects for [a] unitary [system],” and that the court would modify its decree in the future for good cause shown (App. 309a). The court of appeals, sitting en banc,20 reversed (App. 311a-319a). Focusing principally on the “ shift in the racial balance” that would result from proposed redistricting, the majority applied the following stand ard to determine the validity of the city’s attempted withdrawal from the county system (App. 313a) : I f the creation of a new school district is de signed to further the aim of providing quality education and is attended secondarily by a modification of the racial balance, short of re- segregation, the federal courts should not inter fere. If, however, the primary purpose for creat ing a new school district is to retain as much of separation of the races as possible, the state has violated its affirmative constitutional duty to end state supported school segregation. The court compared the racial composition of the county system before and after Emporia’s secession— 66 percent black and 34 percent white before, as com pared with 72 percent black and 28 percent white “ Judges Sobeloff and Butzner did not participate (App. 311a). 11 after21—and concluded that the city did not seek to separate from the county system in order to perpetuate segregation (App. 316a). In the majority’s view of the record, the city’s predominant purpose or moti vation22 in withdrawing was not to discriminate on the basis of race, but rather to improve the quality of the schools and to alleviate unfair tax allocations (App. 314a, 316a-317a). Judge Winter dissented (App. 336a). In his view, the validity of the city’s action should be judged in light of the test established by this Court in Green, supra—that a proposed method of school opera tion less effective than an existing and workable de segregation plan bears a heavy burden of justification (App. 337a). Applying that standard to the instant case, he concluded that the 20.5 percent difference in white student population between the city and county, as well as the other deleterious effects of separation, were not justified by the reasons advanced by the city (App. 340a-342a). ARGUMENT For fifteen years after Brown I the schools in Greensville County remained racially segregated. Finally in June 1969, four years after petitioners insti tuted their suit seeking desegregation, the district court ordered the county School Board to implement a plan that would dismantle the existing dual system. The validity of the city of Emporia’s attempt, two 21 But see n. 23 infra. 22 The court used “purpose” and “motivation” interchange ably throughout the opinion (App. 314a, 316a-317a). 12 weeks later, to immunize itself from the imminent de segregation of the county system by creating its own school district can be assessed only against this back ground. See Green v. County School Board, 391 U.S. 430, 437. For the inescapable fact is that until the court’s order a dual school system flourished in Greensville County and the traditionally white-only schools in the city of Emporia comprised the white branch of that unconstitutional system. In these circumstances, the question presented by this ease is whether creation of a separate school sys tem for the city would impede the dismantling of the dual system. That the city’s proposed action is author ized by state law or that state law allowed the city to deprive the county School Board of authority over the city’s school children makes no difference. As this court held in a case decided after the decision of the court below: [ I ] f a state-imposed limitation on a school authority’s discretion operates to inhibit or obstruct the operation of a unitary school sys tem or impede the disestablishing of a dual school system, it must fall; state policy must give way when it operates to hinder vindication of federal constitutional guarantees. North Carolina State Board of Education v. Swann, 402 U.S. 43, 45. See also Gomillion v. Light-foot, 364 U.S. 339. Thus, what matters is not how withdrawal of the city was to be accomplished, but rather what effect that action would have on the court-ordered desegrega tion of the schools in the county, including those within the city of Emporia. Since all of those schools had 13 been operated as a single, segregated system, the city’s attempted separation is to fee judged in light of the standards applicable to any proposal affecting con version o f a dual system into a unitary one. That is, if creation of separate city and county school systems would give rise to a less effective method of achieving desegregation, there is “ at the least * * * a heavy burden upon the [city] to explain its preference” for this course of action. Green v. County School Board, supra, 391 II.S. at 439; North Carolina State Board of Education v. Swann, supra, 402 U.S. at 45. The district court therefore properly considered the schools within the city and those elsewhere within the county as a single system for the purposes of desegre gation—just as they had been a single system for purposes of segregation—and viewed the city’s at tempted withdrawal as a proposed alternative to the plan adopted in the court’s outstanding desegregation decree (App. 303a). This approach is in accord not only with the decisions of this Court, but also with the decisions of other courts involving the carving out of new districts from larger districts that are- desegregating under court order. Lee and United States v. Macon County Board of Education, 448 F. 2d 746 (C.A. 5) ; Burleson v. County Board of Elec tion Commissioners of Jefferson County, 308 F. Supp. 352, 357 (E.D. Ark.), affirmed, 432 F. 2d 1356 (C.A. 8) ; Stout and United States v. Jefferson County Board of Education, 448 F. 2d 403 (C.A. 5). We also believe that the district court properly concluded that a separate city system would be a less effective method of desegregation and that the 14 city failed to meet its heavy burden of justifica tion under Green. The city system would have had a student population consisting of 52 percent black stu dents and 48 percent white; this would have left the county system 72 percent black and 28 percent white. The substantial disparity in racial composition is ap parent. This disparity is all the more significant in light of the fact that the schools to be utilized in the proposed more-white city system, which would in crease in racial percentages from 28 percent white to 48 percent white, were the traditionally white-only schools in the county’s dual system. Indeed, the city intended to operate one of these two schools—Greens- School—with a white majority (App. :394a), a majority the city expected to increase as white students were attracted back from private schools (App. 304a).23 24 This is not the way to dis mantle a rigid dual school system still functioning 15 years after Brown I. It is at the very least a less effective way to eliminate the vestiges of racial segre gation than the plan ordered by the district court, see n. 12 supra. Moreover, in exercising its “ broad power to fashion a remedy that will assure a unitary school system,” 23 I f operated as a combined city-county system, it would be 66 percent black and 34 percent white. Judge Winter, in dissent, emphasized the difference between the 28 percent of white students m the county and 48 percent o f white students in the city under the new plan, and concluded (App. 340a) : “To allow the creation o f a substantially whiter haven in the midst o f a small and mainly black area is a step backward in the integration process.” 24 The disparity undoubtedly would also have been increased by implementation of the city’s transfer provision (see n. 11 supra, and accompanying text). 15 Swann v. Charlotte-31eddenhurg Board of Educa tion, 402 U.S. 1, 16, the district court could properly take into account more than the resulting racial per centages if the city’s separation were allowed. The district court properly considered the educational ad vantages of a single system for all the children in the county, including those in Emporia (App. 306a-307a). See Swann v. Charlotte-31ecklenburg Board of Edu cation, supra, 402 U.S. at 18-19. It is also significant that all the buildings in the county had been built as black schools and three o f them were located on in ferior sites in “ out-of-the-way” places. On the other hand, the two buildings the city intended to use were the only previously white schools in the county sys tem. Thus, the more-white district would be assigned the previously white schools while the more-black district would be assigned the previously black schools, which were considered inferior.25 Again, this is not the way to dismantle a dual school system and eliminate the vestiges of racial segregation “ root and 25 In addition, it appears likely (see Defendants’ Answers to Plaintiffs’ Interrogatories, June 18, 1965, indicating the ca pacities o f the county schools) that the county Board would have had to use at least temporarily, the other, formerly all- black school in the city— Greensville County Training School— which city officials considered in “ bad shape” and did not intend to utilize (see note 13 supra) . This would require transporting county students into the city in essentially the same dual attend ance pattern that existed when the county system operated on a segregated basis: students from the more-black district would attend formerly all-black Greensville County Training School in the city while students from the more-white district would attend the formerly all-white Emporia Elementary or Greens ville County High Schools, both of which are also in the city. 16 branch,” Green v. County School Board, supra 391 U.S. at 438. In our brief in United States v. Scotland Neck City Board of Education, No. 70-130, this Term, we set forth the reasons why the “primary * * * purpose” test adopted by the court of appeals is, in our view, an improper standard (Pet. Brief, at pp. 26-29) ; 26 we will not repeat that discussion here. We point out, however, that in this case the sequence of events alone gives rise to an inference that the purpose to avoid the full impact of desegregation played a sig nificant role in the city’s decision to withdraw from the county school system, and the district court thus properly found that the city’s motives, while mixed, were partially racial (App. 305a, 307a). In the court of appeals’ view, the racial motive was not the pri mary one (App. 316a). But a denial of equal pro tection of the laws does not depend on whether racial motives predominated; the Constitution does not per mit a state to be just a little bit discriminatory. At all events, in this case there is no dispute that the dual system violated the Constitution; the only question is how to remedy that constitutional violation. And, as we have discussed above, the district court properly concluded that a separate city system, would result in a less effective remedy for dismantling the dual system. While the city’s desire to provide quality education is commendable, the district court made plain that it would consider any proposed modifications in the 26 We are furnishing respondents in this case with a copy of our Scotland Neck brief. 17 future that would achieve that end in the context of a unitary operation. This is precisely the approach required by Brown II, supra, and by Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education, 396 U.S. 19. In these circumstances, the respondents did not satisfy their heavy burden under Green, as Judge Winter pointed out in dissent (App. 341a-342a) and, accord ingly, the judgment of the district court should have been affirmed. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the court of appeals should be reversed. Respectfully submitted. Erwin N. Griswold, Solicitor General. David L. Norman, Assistant Attorney General. L awrence G-. W allace, Deputy Solicitor General. A. R aymond R andolph, Jr., Assistant to the Solicitor General. Thomas M. Keeling, Attorney. F ebruary 1972. U.S, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1972 I