Appellants
State of Washington, et al.
Appellees
Seattle School District Number 1, et al.
Appellants' Claim
That Initiative 350, a state law prohibiting busing of school children undercertain circumstances, was constitutional and binding upon the Seattle schoolsystem.
Chief Lawyer for Appellants
Kenneth O. Eikenberry
Chief Lawyer for Appellees
Michael W. Hoge
Justices for the Court
Harry A. Blackmun (writing for the Court), William J. Brennan, Jr., ThurgoodMarshall, John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White
Justices Dissenting
Warren E. Burger, Sandra Day O'Connor, Lewis F. Powell, Jr. William H. Rehnquist
Place
Washington, D.C.
Date of Decision
30 June 1982
Decision
Affirmed the rulings of two lower courts, holding that Initiative 350 violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by creating an unconstitutional classification based solely on race.
Significance
The ruling confirmed the ability of local school boards or government agencies to take voluntary action to remedy de facto racial segregation within their systems. De facto racial segregation is segregation that has arisen through housing and development patterns, and has not been influenced by state or judicial statutes or policies. Furthermore, by striking down a popularly accepted ballot initiative prohibiting intradistrict busing of schoolchildren to ameliorate de facto racial segregation, the Court served notice to opponents of integrative busing nationwide that racial segregation in the schools was a legitimate issue for school boards to address.
A Thorny Problem
In the early 1970s school districts throughout the United States were faced with a dilemma: their school systems were racially segregated in a manner reminiscent of the "separate but equal" era in the South prior to the Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). This segregation was not the product of policy or public design, but had arisen through development patterns created by the actions of individuals acting independently. This type ofsegregation, labeled de facto, would prove difficult to correct.
The Seattle School District operated 112 schools serving more than 50,000 students in the early 1970s. Thirty-seven percent of the district's students atthe time were of minority descent, and de facto housing patterns resulted in a heavily segregated school system. Beginning in 1963 the district took action to end racial segregation within its schools, when a program allowing students to transfer in order to integrate schools was implemented. However, the program did not materially alter the pattern of segregation within thedistrict.
In 1977, the district announced its intention to address racial imbalance within its schools through a program involving "magnet" and "feeder" schools. These schools were expected to attract a racially diverse student body at critical levels within the district, which would then "feed into" less integratedschools and eventually desegregate the system as a whole. Despite the plan, after one year of this program, racial segregation within the district had actually increased.
Following the failure of its magnet and feeder programs, the district adoptedthe Seattle Plan for school desegregation. This plan called for the mandatory reassignment of students to integrate schools, using the busing of studentsto achieve this end where required. The plan was scheduled for implementation in the 1978-79 school year.
Resistance to Change
Before the Seattle plan could be implemented, strong public opposition aroseto its provisions. In the fall of 1977 a political organization known as theCitizens for Voluntary Integration Committee (CIVIC) was formed to bar the implementation of the Seattle plan. CIVIC sponsored ballot Initiative 350 for consideration by the state electorate in November of 1978. Initiative 350 placed restrictions on the mandatory busing of students, while still allowing local school districts to assign students to schools other than those nearest their homes for many nondesegretative purposes. While never mentioning race, Initiative 350 was clearly understood to oppose school busing to achieve desegregation.
The district began implementing the Seattle Plan in the fall of 1978, with the immediate effect of desegregating the Seattle school system. On 8 November1978, however, Initiative 350 was approved by the people of Washington Stateby a margin of nearly 2-1, and the district was forced to abandon the SeattlePlan.
Legal Remedies
Following the passage of Initiative 350, its constitutionality under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was challenged by the district in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The district court upheld the school's claim, noting that the most overcrowded schools in the district were those with the highest percentage of minority students, and that Initiative 350 would remove any possibility of racial integrationwithin the district. Furthermore, the district court found that virtually alltypes of busing would be allowable under Initiative 350, with the exceptionof busing to achieve racial integration. Because it singled out busing for racial integration, Initiative 350 created a constitutionally impermissible racial classification of a type prohibited by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hunter v. Erickson, (1969). In that case the Court ruled that a referendum passed by the electorate of Akron, Ohio, to override an Akron City Council fairhousing ordinance was unconstitutional because the referendum singled out a particular type of ordinance, namely, a fair housing statute, for special treatment. Initiative 350 was also judged to be overly broad, since it would prohibit school districts from redressing de jure segregation, that is, segregation caused by deliberate state action, as well as de facto segregation.
The case then proceeded to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which affirmed the ruling of the district court, while also noting that Initiative 350 inappropriately removed the power to determine school policy from thelocal school board. The court of appeals also observed that it would be permissible for a successor school board to abandon the Seattle Plan, but that inthis case "a different government body--the state-wide electorate--rescindeda policy voluntarily enacted by locally elected school boards already subject to local political control." In the wake of the court of appeals' decision,the state of Washington appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the matter on 22 March 1982.
The Power of the State
Justice Blackmun wrote for the majority, with the Court finding in favor of the Seattle School District by a margin of 5-4. Following essentially the samereasoning of the district court, the Court viewed Initiative 350 as an inappropriate use of the power of the state. The initiative was judged to be impermissibly preferential, in that it singled out busing to end racial segregation while allowing busing for many other reasons. The initiative also did not follow the precept established in Hunter v. Erickson (1969) that statedstatutes must follow a general principle, since it was crafted for a purelyracial purpose and placed significant burdens on racial minority groups. Finally, the Court affirmed another principle developed in Hunter v. Erickson: that "meaningful and unjustified distinctions based on race are impermissible."
Impact
Washington v. Seattle School District represents one side of the Court's rather inconsistent approach to attempts to remedy de facto segregation in the 1970s. The ruling was consistent with the position taken by the Court in Keyes v. School District No. 1 (1973), in which Denver schoolswere ordered to take action to redress racial segregation within the system.However, these rulings are seemingly contradicted by Milliken v. Bradley, (1974), in which the Court ruled that it was inappropriate to seek judicial remedies for de facto segregation. In fact, Washington v. Seattle School District was specifically overruled by Crawford v. Board ofEducation of Los Angeles, (1982), in which the Court held that states could amend their constitutions to prohibit busing of students to redress defacto racial segregation.
Related Cases
State of Washington, et al.
Appellees
Seattle School District Number 1, et al.
Appellants' Claim
That Initiative 350, a state law prohibiting busing of school children undercertain circumstances, was constitutional and binding upon the Seattle schoolsystem.
Chief Lawyer for Appellants
Kenneth O. Eikenberry
Chief Lawyer for Appellees
Michael W. Hoge
Justices for the Court
Harry A. Blackmun (writing for the Court), William J. Brennan, Jr., ThurgoodMarshall, John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White
Justices Dissenting
Warren E. Burger, Sandra Day O'Connor, Lewis F. Powell, Jr. William H. Rehnquist
Place
Washington, D.C.
Date of Decision
30 June 1982
Decision
Affirmed the rulings of two lower courts, holding that Initiative 350 violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by creating an unconstitutional classification based solely on race.
Significance
The ruling confirmed the ability of local school boards or government agencies to take voluntary action to remedy de facto racial segregation within their systems. De facto racial segregation is segregation that has arisen through housing and development patterns, and has not been influenced by state or judicial statutes or policies. Furthermore, by striking down a popularly accepted ballot initiative prohibiting intradistrict busing of schoolchildren to ameliorate de facto racial segregation, the Court served notice to opponents of integrative busing nationwide that racial segregation in the schools was a legitimate issue for school boards to address.
A Thorny Problem
In the early 1970s school districts throughout the United States were faced with a dilemma: their school systems were racially segregated in a manner reminiscent of the "separate but equal" era in the South prior to the Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). This segregation was not the product of policy or public design, but had arisen through development patterns created by the actions of individuals acting independently. This type ofsegregation, labeled de facto, would prove difficult to correct.
The Seattle School District operated 112 schools serving more than 50,000 students in the early 1970s. Thirty-seven percent of the district's students atthe time were of minority descent, and de facto housing patterns resulted in a heavily segregated school system. Beginning in 1963 the district took action to end racial segregation within its schools, when a program allowing students to transfer in order to integrate schools was implemented. However, the program did not materially alter the pattern of segregation within thedistrict.
In 1977, the district announced its intention to address racial imbalance within its schools through a program involving "magnet" and "feeder" schools. These schools were expected to attract a racially diverse student body at critical levels within the district, which would then "feed into" less integratedschools and eventually desegregate the system as a whole. Despite the plan, after one year of this program, racial segregation within the district had actually increased.
Following the failure of its magnet and feeder programs, the district adoptedthe Seattle Plan for school desegregation. This plan called for the mandatory reassignment of students to integrate schools, using the busing of studentsto achieve this end where required. The plan was scheduled for implementation in the 1978-79 school year.
Resistance to Change
Before the Seattle plan could be implemented, strong public opposition aroseto its provisions. In the fall of 1977 a political organization known as theCitizens for Voluntary Integration Committee (CIVIC) was formed to bar the implementation of the Seattle plan. CIVIC sponsored ballot Initiative 350 for consideration by the state electorate in November of 1978. Initiative 350 placed restrictions on the mandatory busing of students, while still allowing local school districts to assign students to schools other than those nearest their homes for many nondesegretative purposes. While never mentioning race, Initiative 350 was clearly understood to oppose school busing to achieve desegregation.
The district began implementing the Seattle Plan in the fall of 1978, with the immediate effect of desegregating the Seattle school system. On 8 November1978, however, Initiative 350 was approved by the people of Washington Stateby a margin of nearly 2-1, and the district was forced to abandon the SeattlePlan.
Legal Remedies
Following the passage of Initiative 350, its constitutionality under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was challenged by the district in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The district court upheld the school's claim, noting that the most overcrowded schools in the district were those with the highest percentage of minority students, and that Initiative 350 would remove any possibility of racial integrationwithin the district. Furthermore, the district court found that virtually alltypes of busing would be allowable under Initiative 350, with the exceptionof busing to achieve racial integration. Because it singled out busing for racial integration, Initiative 350 created a constitutionally impermissible racial classification of a type prohibited by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hunter v. Erickson, (1969). In that case the Court ruled that a referendum passed by the electorate of Akron, Ohio, to override an Akron City Council fairhousing ordinance was unconstitutional because the referendum singled out a particular type of ordinance, namely, a fair housing statute, for special treatment. Initiative 350 was also judged to be overly broad, since it would prohibit school districts from redressing de jure segregation, that is, segregation caused by deliberate state action, as well as de facto segregation.
The case then proceeded to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which affirmed the ruling of the district court, while also noting that Initiative 350 inappropriately removed the power to determine school policy from thelocal school board. The court of appeals also observed that it would be permissible for a successor school board to abandon the Seattle Plan, but that inthis case "a different government body--the state-wide electorate--rescindeda policy voluntarily enacted by locally elected school boards already subject to local political control." In the wake of the court of appeals' decision,the state of Washington appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the matter on 22 March 1982.
The Power of the State
Justice Blackmun wrote for the majority, with the Court finding in favor of the Seattle School District by a margin of 5-4. Following essentially the samereasoning of the district court, the Court viewed Initiative 350 as an inappropriate use of the power of the state. The initiative was judged to be impermissibly preferential, in that it singled out busing to end racial segregation while allowing busing for many other reasons. The initiative also did not follow the precept established in Hunter v. Erickson (1969) that statedstatutes must follow a general principle, since it was crafted for a purelyracial purpose and placed significant burdens on racial minority groups. Finally, the Court affirmed another principle developed in Hunter v. Erickson: that "meaningful and unjustified distinctions based on race are impermissible."
Impact
Washington v. Seattle School District represents one side of the Court's rather inconsistent approach to attempts to remedy de facto segregation in the 1970s. The ruling was consistent with the position taken by the Court in Keyes v. School District No. 1 (1973), in which Denver schoolswere ordered to take action to redress racial segregation within the system.However, these rulings are seemingly contradicted by Milliken v. Bradley, (1974), in which the Court ruled that it was inappropriate to seek judicial remedies for de facto segregation. In fact, Washington v. Seattle School District was specifically overruled by Crawford v. Board ofEducation of Los Angeles, (1982), in which the Court held that states could amend their constitutions to prohibit busing of students to redress defacto racial segregation.
Related Cases
- Hunter v. Erickson, 393 U.S. 391 (1969).
- Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 769 (1974).
- Crawford v. Board of Education of Los Angeles, 458 U.S. 527 (1982).
Further Readings
- Hall, Kermit L., ed. The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court ofthe United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
- Rosen, Jeffrey. "Stare Indecisis: Harry Blackmun v. CCRI." The New Republic, December 23, 1996, p. 14.
- Stearns, Maxwell L. "The Misguided Renaissance of Social Choice." YaleLaw Journal, March 1994, p. 1219.
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