Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

Reargued on the question of relief April 11-14, 1955

Opinion and judgments announced May 31, 1955 *

349 U.S. 294

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS.

Syllabus



1. Racial discrimination in public education is unconstitutional, 347

U.S. 483, 497, and all provisions of federal, state or local law

requiring or permitting such discrimination must yield to this

principle.



2. The judgments below (except that in the Delaware case) are reversed

and the cases are remanded to the District Courts to take such

proceedings and enter such orders and decrees consistent with this

opinion as are necessary and proper to admit the parties to these cases

to public schools on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all

deliberate speed.



(a) School authorities have the primary responsibility for elucidating,

assessing and solving the varied local school problems which may require

solution in fully implementing the governing constitutional principles.



(b) Courts will have to consider whether the action of school

authorities constitutes good faith implementation of the governing

constitutional principles.



(c) Because of their proximity to local conditions and the possible need

for further hearings, the courts which originally heard these cases can

best perform this judicial appraisal.



(d) In fashioning and effectuating the decrees, the courts will be

guided by equitable principles -- characterized by a practical

flexibility in shaping remedies and a facility for adjusting and

reconciling public and private needs.   [349 U.S. 295]



(e) At stake is the personal interest of the plaintiffs in admission to

public schools as soon as practicable on a nondiscriminatory basis.



(f) Courts of equity may properly take into account the public interest

in the elimination in a systematic and effective manner of a variety of

obstacles in making the transition to school systems operated in

accordance with the constitutional principles enunciated in 347 U.S.

483, 497; but the vitality of these constitutional principles cannot be

allowed to yield simply because of disagreement with them.



(g) While giving weight to these public and private considerations, the

courts will require that the defendants make a prompt and reasonable

start toward full compliance with the ruling of this Court.



(h) Once such a start has been made, the courts may find that additional

time is necessary to carry out the ruling in an effective manner.



(i) The burden rests on the defendants to establish that additional time

is necessary in the public interest and is consistent with good faith

compliance at the earliest practicable date.



(j) The courts may consider problems related to administration, arising

from the physical condition of the school plant, the school

transportation system, personnel, revision of school districts and

attendance areas into compact units to achieve a system of determining

admission to the public schools on a nonracial basis, and revision of

local laws and regulations which may be necessary in solving the

foregoing problems.



(k) The courts will also consider the adequacy of any plans the

defendants may propose to meet these problems and to effectuate a

transition to a racially nondiscriminatory school system.



(l) During the period of transition, the courts will retain jurisdiction

of these cases.



3. The judgment in the Delaware case, ordering the immediate admission

of the plaintiffs to schools previously attended only by white children,

is affirmed on the basis of the principles stated by this Court in its

opinion, 347 U.S. 483, but the case is remanded to the Supreme Court of

Delaware for such further proceedings as that Court may deem necessary

in the light of this opinion.



98 F.Supp. 797, 103 F.Supp. 920, 103 F.Supp. 337 and judgment in No. 4,

reversed and remanded.



91 A.2d 137, affirmed and remanded. [349 U.S. 298] WARREN, J., lead

opinion



MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WARREN delivered the opinion of the Court.



These cases were decided on May 17, 1954.  The opinions of that date,

declaring the fundamental principle that racial discrimination in public

education is unconstitutional, are incorporated herein by reference. 

All provisions of federal, state, or local law requiring or permitting

such discrimination must yield to this principle.  There remains for

consideration the manner in which relief is to be accorded.



Because these cases arose under different local conditions and their

disposition will involve a variety of local problems, we requested

further argument on the question of relief.  In view of the nationwide

importance of the decision, we invited the Attorney General of the

United [349 U.S. 299] States and the Attorneys General of all states

requiring or permitting racial discrimination in public education to

present their views on that question.  The parties, the United States,

and the States of Florida, North Carolina, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Maryland,

and Texas filed briefs and participated in the oral argument.



These presentations were informative and helpful to the Court in its

consideration of the complexities arising from the transition to a

system of public education freed of racial discrimination.  The

presentations also demonstrated that substantial steps to eliminate

racial discrimination in public schools have already been taken, not

only in some of the communities in which these cases arose, but in some

of the states appearing as amici curiae, and in other states as well. 

Substantial progress has been made in the District of Columbia and in

the communities in Kansas and Delaware involved in this litigation.  The

defendants in the cases coming to us from South Carolina and Virginia

are awaiting the decision of this Court concerning relief.



Full implementation of these constitutional principles may require

solution of varied local school problems.  School authorities have the

primary responsibility for elucidating, assessing, and solving these

problems; courts will have to consider whether the action of school

authorities constitutes good faith implementation of the governing

constitutional principles.  Because of their proximity to local

conditions and the possible need for further hearings, the courts which

originally heard these cases can best perform this judicial appraisal. 

Accordingly, we believe it appropriate to remand the cases to those

courts. [349 U.S. 300]



In fashioning and effectuating the decrees, the courts will be guided by

equitable principles.  Traditionally, equity has been characterized by a

practical flexibility in shaping its remedies and by a facility for

adjusting and reconciling public and private needs.  These cases call

for the exercise of these traditional attributes of equity power.  At

stake is the personal interest of the plaintiffs in admission to public

schools as soon as practicable on a nondiscriminatory basis.  To

effectuate this interest may call for elimination of a variety of

obstacles in making the transition to school systems operated in

accordance with the constitutional principles set forth in our May 17,

1954, decision.  Courts of equity may properly take into account the

public interest in the elimination of such obstacles in a systematic and

effective manner.  But it should go without saying that the vitality of

these constitutional principles cannot be allowed to yield simply

because of disagreement with them.



While giving weight to these public and private considerations, the

courts will require that the defendants make a prompt and reasonable

start toward full compliance with our May 17, 1954, ruling.  Once such a

start has been made, the courts may find that additional time is

necessary to carry out the ruling in an effective manner.  The burden

rests upon the defendants to establish that such time is necessary in

the public interest and is consistent with good faith compliance at the

earliest practicable date.  To that end, the courts may consider

problems related to administration, arising from the physical condition

of the school plant, the school transportation system, personnel,

revision of school districts and attendance areas into compact units to

achieve a system of determining admission to the public schools [349

U.S. 301] on a nonracial basis, and revision of local laws and

regulations which may be necessary in solving the foregoing problems. 

They will also consider the adequacy of any plans the defendants may

propose to meet these problems and to effectuate a transition to a

racially nondiscriminatory school system.  During this period of

transition, the courts will retain jurisdiction of these cases.



The judgments below, except that, in the Delaware case, are accordingly

reversed, and the cases are remanded to the District Courts to take such

proceedings and enter such orders and decrees consistent with this

opinion as are necessary and proper to admit to public schools on a

racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed the parties

to these cases.  The judgment in the Delaware case -- ordering the

immediate admission of the plaintiffs to schools previously attended

only by white children -- is affirmed on the basis of the principles

stated in our May 17, 1954, opinion, but the case is remanded to the

Supreme Court of Delaware for such further proceedings as that Court may

deem necessary in light of this opinion.



It is so ordered. Footnotes WARREN, J., lead opinion (Footnotes)



* Together with No. 2, Briggs et al. v. Elliott et al., on appeal from

the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South

Carolina; No. 3, Davis et al. v. County School Board of Prince Edward

County, Virginia, et al., on appeal from the United States District

Court for the Eastern District of Virginia; No. 4, Bolling et al. v.

Sharpe et al., on certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for

the District of Columbia Circuit, and No. 5, Gebhart et al. v. Belton et

al., on certiorari to the Supreme Court of Delaware.



1. 347 U.S. 483; 347 U.S. 497.



2. Further argument was requested on the following questions, 347 U.S.

483,  n. 13, previously propounded by the Court:



4. Assuming it is decided that segregation in public schools violates

the Fourteenth Amendment



(a) would a decree necessarily follow providing that, within the limits

set by normal geographic school districting, Negro children should

forthwith be admitted to schools of their choice, or



(b) may this Court, in the exercise of its equity powers, permit an

effective gradual adjustment to be brought about from existing

segregated systems to a system not based on color distinctions?



5. On the assumption on which questions 4(a) and (b) are based, and

assuming further that this Court will exercise its equity powers to the

end described in question 4 (b),



(a) should this Court formulate detailed decrees in these cases;



(b) if so, what specific issues should the decrees reach;



(c) should this Court appoint a special master to hear evidence with a

view to recommending specific terms for such decrees;



(d) should this Court remand to the courts of first instance with

directions to frame decrees in these cases, and, if so, what general

directions should the decrees of this Court include and what procedures

should the courts of first instance follow in arriving at the specific

terms of more detailed decrees?



3. The cases coming to us from Kansas, South Carolina, and Virginia were

originally heard by three-judge District Courts convened under 28 U.S.C.

 2281 and 2284.  These cases will accordingly be remanded to those

three-judge courts.  See Briggs v. Elliott, 342 U.S. 350.



4. See Alexander v. Hillman, 296 U.S. 222, 239.



5. See Hecht Co. v. Bowles, 321 U.S. 321,

