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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—May 4, 1955—PAGE 13
Excerpts
Continued from Page 12
(he public schools of the District of
Columbia; and are directed that each
child eligible for public school at
tendance in the District of Columbia
be admitted to the school of his choice
not later than September, 1955 within
the limits set by normal geographic
school districting;
(3) The District Court is to retain
jurisdiction to make whatever fur
ther orders it deems appropriate to
carry out the foregoing;
(4) Defendants are to pay the costs
of the proceedings. . . .
The Chief Justice: Mr. Nabrit,
would you please make copies of that
for the Court?
Mr. Nabrit: I shall be happy to.
Argument On Behalf Of
Sharpe Et A1
By Milton D. Korman
Mr. Chief Justice, may it please the
Court, I was in hopes that we could
come here today without any con
troversy between the Appellants and
the Respondents, and indeed, now
that almost an hour has been spent
by my adversary addressing the
Court, I still see no reason for being
here opposing each other.
The only reason I can assign to it
is that apparently my friends on the
other side are determined that there
must come from this Court or from
the District Court some directive by
Washington Post
MILTON D. KORMAN
District Corporation Counsel
which they can point in the future to
the proposition that they have forced
the District of Columbia to do certain
things, and that is not the fact. These
ar e the facts.
May 17 t 1954, this Court declared
We hold that racial segregation in
e Public schools of the District of
°lumbia is a denial of the due pro-
eess of law guaranteed by the Fifth
^endment to the Constitution.”
STARTED immediately
The next day, May 18, the mem-
,L rs the Board of Education and
® Commissioners of the District of
Um bia, met with the Corporation
t j° Unse l in private session at which
jv ® the Corporation Counsel of the
net advised them that that lan-
ind^f ^ rom this Court had effectively
of torever struck down the validity
'idpft f aWS 0n th e books which pro-
a nd vr ° r se P ara t e schools for whites
hunb' e ® roes * n the District of Co-
j. ® < tit°r’s note: There followed a
Ogthy statement by Mr. Kor-
^Odetailing steps taken in the
ft j*, nc t of Columbia to comply
the May 17 decision. These
***. aave been fully reported in
c., Vl0 , Us issues of “Southern
Sch ool News.”)
tw, s Plan, incidentally, has been
‘ n hi°v^d ky the Attorney General
re ad'1r rief * 3e ^ ore this Court. May 1
. y°u what he has to say of this
r ea d J 11 District of Columbia. I
thg r ° m a footnote in the brief of
bri e {.States on page 20 of their
%
,P rese nting his program for in-
8o ar( j IOn tor the approval of the
°f Education, the Superinten
dent of Schools of the District laid
emphasis on the consideration of the
educational growth and welfare of
the school child. Thus, in justification
of the proposal that each presently
enrolled pupil be granted a limited
option to remain in the school he now
attends even though he does not re
side within its new attendance boun
daries the Superintendent enumer
ated the ways in which this would
provide stability, continuity and se
curity in the educational experiences
of pupils during the transition period.
“While we do not describe the Dis
trict of Columbia program in detail
here since this is undertaken in a
brief for the respondents in No. 4, we
think it reflects credit upon those re
sponsible for its formulations and
execution.
“In every significant respect the
plan evidences painstaking care on
the part of school officials to realize
the expressed objective of a speedy
transition calculated to make the best
use of the total resources of the
school system in plant and personnel
to serve the best interests of all the
pupils and to promote the general
welfare of the community.”
THE OPTION PLAN
That is an evaluation which we did
not write. The only ones, or largely
the only ones in point of fact who
are taking advantage of the option
are children in the junior high schools
and the high schools where they have
elective subjects and where those
children have mapped out a course of
education for themselves. They have
made selections, they have adopted
certain courses and they want to con
tinue and they have the right to re
main in those schools until they have
completed the particular level at
which they are going to school. If a
child is going to a particular junior
high school and the boundary of that
school leaves out his residence as it
is finally fixed, and he wants to stay
in there, he should have that right,
whether he is white or colored.
This is not a question of race at all.
It is a question of the continuity of
education of that child, the security
he has, the right to continue to go to
school with the pupils that he has
come to know, the right to continue
with the teachers that he has selected
to instruct him until he graduates
from that particular level.
That is all that the plan provides
for.
PLAN SPEEDED UP
Actually, the plan has been stepped
up and there remains at this time
nothing to be done so far as integra
tion of the schools of the District
with the exception of putting into ef
fect finally the boundaries of the sen
ior high schools which have not all
been fixed, and not all pupils have
been required to go to the particular
high school in which they reside, in
the boundaries of which they reside.
Except for that one point, the
schools of the District are completely
integrated. Mr. Nabrit gave you the
figures showing that only a compara
tively few schools have no pupils of
both races on their enrollments, and
he points to the fact that only 122 or
some number like that, out of a grad
uating group of some 500 went into
schools formerly occupied by other
races. He is mentioning the white
students—let me see whether I made
a note of that when he gave it. Out
of 525 who came from Division 1
schools, that is the white schools, 122
went into Division 1 schools and one
went into a Division 2—that is, a for
merly colored vocational school, but
no white children went into a for
merly colored school.
Obviously, the reason is that
whether we like it or not, we may
change—they have been changing
from white to colored, and not the
other way and so that when neigh
borhoods change, there are no longer
white children going into the neigh
borhoods where colored now live, but
colored children are coming into the
neighborhoods that were formerly oc
cupied by white. . . .
That is the only answer to that. We
cannot read race into that as some
thing that the school system is put
ting on for these children. It is just
not so.
Justice Reed: What is your expla
nation for several all-white schools?
Mr. Korman: Just that in certain
areas in the District, there are no
Negro residents and in certain areas
of the District there are no white resi
dents. . . .
There is no chance whatever in this
District of Columbia that we should
have a return to the segregated
schools. I say that this proposition is
completely a moot one. This is not a
case where the Respondents have vi
olated the law and by reason of a
decree of a court, are required to do
something...
I say to you gentlemen of the Court
that there is no need for any decree
in this case, requiring anyone to do
anything. If the Court sees fit to re
mand to the lower court with the
suggestion that the lower court enter
a decree for a declaratory judgment,
which is the first prayer of the com
plaint that was filed, that the laws
which required segregation of schools
are unconstitutional, I would have no
objection. I see no necessity for it.
That has been established. The mat
ter is, in fact, moot.
I would like to see this court de
clare it moot, because that is the
situation.
Argument Of Harry Briggs
Et A1
By Spottswood Robinson
.... As to question 4, we submit
that a decree should be entered which
would require desegregation of the
public schools involved as soon as
the necessary administrative and me
chanical procedures prerequisite to
such desegregation can be accom
plished.
We do not feel and therefore we
submit that the equity powers of this
court should not be exercised so as
to delay relief in these cases beyond
the time that is essential for the tak
ing of the administrative steps es
sential to desegregation.
In answer to No. 5, on the assump
tions on which that question is predi
cated, we would submit in answer to
Brodnax Photo
SPOTTSWOOD ROBINSON
Attorney for Petitioners
Part A thereof that this court should
not formulate detailed decrees in
these cases which in our opinion
makes it unnecessary for us to submit
an answer to Part B of that question.
In answer to Part C, as to whether
or not this court should appoint a
special master to hear evidence with
a view to recommending specific
terms for such decrees, we would
suggest an answer in the negative.
And in answer to Part B, we submit
that this court should remand these
cases to the courts of first instances
with directions to frame decrees in
these cases, the mandate of this court,
however, the decree entered by this
court, however, to contain certain
provisions that Mr. Marshall will
outline in his portion of the argument.
We think that beyond those con
siderations, the lower courts may, by
the exercise of ordinary procedural
devices reach such further povisions
in the decrees as might be necessary.
I will undertake to present our
argument on question 4 and Mr.
Marshall will undertake to present
our argument on 5.
NORMAL PROCEDURE
In the normal course of judicial
procedure, the decision of this court
that was entered on May 17, declaring
that racial segregation in public edu
cational facilities afforded by a state
is a violation of equal protection of
the laws secured by the 14th Amend
ment, would have been followed by
decrees which would have forthwith
enjoined the continuation of the
practice that this court at that time
found to be unlawful....
If that course of procedure had
been followed, if that course of pro
cedure is now followed, it would
mean a dispositon in these cases
which would require, we think, two
principal things, first, the initiation
immediately of the administrative
procedures and steps that are neces
sary in order to desegregate the pub
lic schools in question and secondly,
the admission at the commencement
of the school term of the appellants
and others who are similarly situated.
Justice Black: May I ask you who
would that include, those similarly
situated?
Mr. Robinson: Mr. Justice Black, I
would answer that question by sug
gesting that it would include all Ne
groes who are residents in the Vir
ginia case of the County of Prince
Edward and in the South Carolina
Case of District No. 1
Justice Frankfurter: Why restrict
it to a county; why not to the whole
state?
Mr. Robinson: I answered Mr. Jus
tice Black’s question in the fashion I
did, that in Virginia we have a situa
tion in which our local school com
munities possess such a degree of
autonomy that I do not believe that
a decree that this Court would enter
in the Prince Edward County case
would be binding except of course as
as a matter of stare decisis in some
other county for the simple reason
that we do not have the school au
thorities who operate those other
school units before the court in this
litigation
Justice Black: If there is a decree
such as you suggest with reference to
all the people in the County, what
statutory sanctions could be invoked
for enforcement of a decree of that
nature if it were violated?
Suppose we entered a decree re
quiring that all the colored children
in the whole county must be admitted
into the county schools of a certain
type and suppose someone violated
that, what sanction can be imposed
under the statute?
Mr. Robinson: I am still not sure
that I am clear.
Justice Black: How would you en
force the order?
Mr. Robinson: Through the normal
contempt procedures....
Justice Black: In other words, you
would have to try contempt proced
ures for everybody in the county
that violated the order?
Mr. Robinson: I would say that
would be available, yes.
Justice Black: Any others?
Mr. Robinson: I cannot recall that
there is.
Justice Frankfurter: You mean
contempt in the District Court, in the
Federal Court for violating the de
cree?
Mr. Robinson: Yes, in whatever
court it emanates.
Justice Frankfurter: In this case.
This is in the District Court. Assum
ing such a decree as you would like
to have entered, then obedience to it
would be by the contempt process
for disobedience?
Mr. Robinson: Yes....
In this situation we submit if there
is any—if there is going to be any
postponement of relief beyond the
date we suggest the burden is on
these Defendants to state what they
propose to do and establish, as a mat
ter of fact, that the postponement
they seek has advantages which are
judicial, cognizable and outweigh
those which are inherent in the
prompt vindication of the appellants’
constitutional right...
Then there are two additional
considerations that we submit here.
In the first place, as this court has
pointed out, the continuance of racial
situations in public education is a
matter that causes irreparable harm
and damage to the students. Every
day that this illegal system of racial
segregation continues, would mean
that we have not one child but a mul
titude of children who are really be
ing seriously injured. Additionally,
the rights asserted by the appellants
in these cases are the rights of the
children and if they are ever going
to be satisfied they must be satisfied
while they are still children and the
period for attendance in public
schools is a short period....
Argument On Behalf Of
Briggs And Davis Et A1
By Thurgood Marshall
May it please the Court, as we
pointed out in argument yesterday by
Mr. Robinson, it is our opinion that
in answering specifically the ques
tions propounded by this Court that
the Court should issue a forthwith
decree, and I say on that when we
use “forthwith decree” in our briefs
and arguments as explained in the
brief for this case, we actually are
urging, not tomorrow or as of what
ever day the opinion comes down in
this case, but we are urging as of
the September school term being this
year or the next school term, and as
I use “forthwith” that was what we
were urging.
I am just using it as a shorthand
way of saying September, 1955. . .
The other specific point is that we
believe that the Appellants in these
THURGOOD MARSHALL
Attorney for Petitioners
cases, those of high school age from
Prince Edward County and those of
elementary and high school age of
District 1 which includes Clarendon
County, should be admitted as of
September, 1955, and the entire class
that they represent.
Justice Harlan: Mr. Marshall, on
page 29 of your joint brief—
Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.
Justice Harlan: —as I read it, you
suggest as an alternative date, Sep
tember 1,1956.
Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.
Justice Harlan: You indicate that
that would be acceptable?
Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.
Justice Harlan: Have you receded
from that view?
Mr. Marshall: No, sir, I was going
to limit the argument to two sections,
and as I understand it, the two ques
tions can be divided. We say that we
are entitled to forthwith action as of
September. We felt obliged by the
wording of Question 5 to, at that stage
of our argument, assume that this
Court had then agreed that forthwith
was not proper, and in answering that
in good faith to the Court, we took the
position that, if we cannot have forth
with, the least this Court should do
would be to put a date certain and
put certain other safeguards. And we
most certainly do not recede from
that position. . . .
The question then resolves itself
as to, it seems to us, whether or not
this immediate relief is granted or the
delayed action, and we believe that
there is much to support our position
that it should be, not only should be,
but should be forthwith. We believe
that the three cases other than South
Carolina and Virginia cases, the three
cases that were argued yesterday:
(Kansas, Delaware, and the District
of Columbia) argued very well to the
proposition that forthwith should be
the term included—I mean, Septem
ber, 1955, should be the term included
in the decree. . . .
THEORY OF NUMBERS
In the District of Columbia case, it
is wholly significant when we apply
it to these cases we are now on, for,
in the District of Columbia, they did
it between May and September and
I say, in all frankness, they must have
been working on it before, because it
is a very complicated, involved school
system in a city of the size of Wash-
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