On January 11, 1967, the U.S. Department of Justice brought this school desegregation case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. The Department of Justice sued to enjoin the operation of a segregated school system in rural Desoto Parish, Louisiana. In its early stages, this case was litigated largely in consolidated hearings involving 29 parishes in the Western District of Louisiana. This case was originally heard by Judge Benjamin C. Dawkins Jr.

The case was first stayed pending the Fifth Circuit's decision in U.S. v. Jefferson County Bd. of Educ., 380 F.2d 385 (1967). On March 29, 1967 the Fifth Court decided Jefferson, ruling that school boards have an affirmative duty to bring about integrated, unitary school systems as some School Boards were trying to distinguish between “integration” and “desegregation.” For information on the Jefferson County case, see SD-AL-0001 in this Clearinghouse.

Subsequently, the District Court evidently approved a "freedom of choice" desegregation plan, and the plaintiffs appealed. After the Supreme Court in Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, 391 U.S. 430 (1968), expressed frustration at the inadequacy of such plans, the Fifth Circuit on August 20, 1968, remanded a large set of consolidated cases for reconsideration of the issue. Adams v. Mathews, 403 F.2d 181 (1968). On remand, on November 14, 1968, all the judges of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana sat together, and again approved freedom of choice plan in this and 28 other cases, all consolidated as Conley v. Lake Charles School Bd., 293 F.Supp. 84 (W.D. La. 1968), On appeal, on May 28, 1969, the Court of Appeals finally ruled for all the relevant cases, including this one, that “freedom of choice” plans were inadequate to achieve desegregation of public schools. Hall v. St. Helena Parish School Bd., 417 F.2d 801 (1969).

On August 4, 1969, the District Court approved a three-year plan submitted by the School Board. The plan assigned students to schools under one of three arrangements. Students could be assigned geographically, according to the bus they rode or by providing their own transportation if they lived outside a zoned area. On January 14, 1970, Fifth Circuit ordered the plan to be modified to compel the school board to complete desegregation by February 1, 1970, following the Supreme Court’s decision in Carter v. West Feliciana Parish School Board, 396 U.S. 290 (1970), which reversed a Fifth Circuit case that allowed school districts to defer integration plans beyond February 1, 1970.

The Department of Justice filed a broad motion for further relief in 1975, but the District Court only granted additional relief with regard to the student transportation system. On appeal, in 1978, the Fifth Circuit granted the Department of Justice broad additional relief, disappointed in the lack of progress in the areas of student and faculty assignments and the District Court’s unwillingness to grant additional relief to the United States. 574 F.2d 804. The Supreme Court denied review. 439 U.S. 982 (1978).

The docket was quiet until 2007, when the parties moved for entry of a new Consent Decree. The District Court approved that Decree on February 5, 2007; it allowed the Parish to construct new schools and adjust their student transfer policy without running afoul of the desegregation order. After granting multiple time extensions, the District Court entered a superseding decree in 2011 that again modified the student transfer policy. In 2014, the District Court granted a motion to modify the school attendance zone boundaries. The School Board has continued to file periodic progress reports.

Available Opinions
Adams v. Mathews, 403 F.2d 181 (1968)
Conley v. Lake Charles School Bd., 293 F.Supp. 84 (1968)
Hall v. St. Helena Parish School Bd, 417 F.2d 801 (1969)
Singleton v. Jackson Municipal Separate School Dist., 419 F.2d 1211 (1969)
United States v. Desoto Parish School Bd., 420 F.2d 380 (1970)
United States v. Desoto Parish School Bd., 574 F.2d 804 (1978), cert. denied 439 U.S. 982 (1978)
United States v. Desoto Parish School Bd., 2013 WL 3148637 (2013)

Alaael-Deen Shilleh - 04/30/2017


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