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. Compare, e.g., Green, 391 U.S., at 437438 (School boards operating state-compelled dual systems have an affirmative duty to take whatever steps might be necessary to convert to a unitary system in which racial discrimination would be eliminated root and branch), with, e.g., Milliken, 418 U.S., at 745 (the Constitution does not impose a duty to desegregate upon districts that have not been shown to have committed any constitutional violation). 05908, at 276a. Jefferson County has failed to present any evidence that it considered alternatives, even though the district already claims that its goals are achieved primarily through means other than the racial classifications. Compare post, at 3, 2228, with Brief for Respondents in No. remanded for further proceedings. Accepting racial balancing as a compelling state interest would justify imposing racial proportionality throughout American society, contrary to the Courts repeated admonitions that this is unconstitutional. Wygant, 476 U. S., at 275276 (plurality opinion); id., at 295 (White, J., concurring in judgment). 2d, at 842, based on the objective of achieving at all schools an African-American enrollment equivalent to the average district-wide African-American enrollment of 34 percent. See also id., at 89 (It has been urged that [these state laws and policies] derive validity as a consequence of a long duration supported and made possible by a long line of judicial decisions, including expressions in some of the decisions of this Court. The District further points to the line of Supreme Court cases requiring that schools desegregate even when such segregation was simply the effect of where the districts boundaries were drawn. Several factors, taken together, nonetheless lead me to conclude that the boards use of race-conscious criteria in these plans passes even the strictest tailoring test. Johnson v. California, 543 U. S. 499, 505506 (2005); Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U. S. 306, 326 (2003); Adarand, supra, at 224. in KentuckyThe Second Year After the Supreme Courts Decision, 25 J. Negro Educ. In each case, the school district relies upon an individual students race in assigning that student to a particular school, so that the racial balance at the school falls within a predetermined range based on the racial composition of the school district as a whole. v. Barksdale, 348 F.2d 261, 266 (CA1 1965); Pennsylvania Human Relations Commn v. Chester School Dist., 427 Pa. 157, 164, 233 A. Moreover, the effect of applying race-conscious criteria here affects potentially disadvantaged students less severely, not more severely, than the criteria at issue in Grutter. But the principle of inherent equality that underlies and infuses our Constitution required the disestablishment of de jure segregation. It added that the fact that a law treats [a person] unequally because of his or her race . [Footnote 23] And foreshadowing todays dissent, the segregationists most heavily relied upon judicial precedent. 1, 23 (1995); A. Siqueland, Without A Court Order: The Desegregation of Seattles Schools 10 (1981) (hereinafter Siqueland); D. Pieroth, Desegregating the Public Schools, Seattle, Washington, 19541968, p.6 (Dissertation Draft 1979) (hereinafter Pieroth). of Oral Arg. United States v. Fordice, 505 U. S. 717, 749 (1992) (Thomas, J., concurring). Today, almost 50 years later, attitudes toward race in this Nation have changed dramatically. See Brief for Petitioner at 4647. After preliminary rulings and an eventual victory for the plaintiffs in the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the District Court in July 1975 entered an order requiring desegregation. A Connecticut statute states that its student choice program will seek to preserve racial and ethnic balance. Conn. Gen. Stat. The dissents permissive strict scrutiny (which bears more than a passing resemblance to rational-basis review) could invite widespread governmental deployment of racial classifications. Contrary to the dissents rhetoric, neither of these school districts is threatened with resegregation, and neither is constitutionally compelled or permitted to undertake race-based remediation. Individual schools will fall in and out of balance in the natural course, and the appropriate balance itself will shift with a school districts changing demographics. of Ed., 402 U. S. 1, 6 (1971); see also Monroe v. Board of Commrs of Jackson, 391 U. S. 450, 452 (1968). This type of exclusion, solely on the basis of race, is precisely the sort of government action that pits the races against one another, exacerbates racial tension, and provoke[s] resentment among those who believe that they have been wronged by the governments use of race. Adarand, supra, at 241 (opinion of Thomas, J.). See post, at 62. The lesson of history, see ante, at 39 (plurality opinion), is not that efforts to continue racial segregation are constitutionally indistinguishable from efforts to achieve racial integration. "[27], Part III C[14] addressed the school districts' claim that "the way in which they have employed individual racial classifications is necessary to achieve their stated ends." 3, p. 71 ([T]o make such a transition, would undo what we have been doing, and which we propose to continue to do for the uplift and advancement of the education of both races. When it comes to using race to assign children to schools, history will be heard. Some schools are more popular than others. Upon realizing that the litigation would not be resolved in time for assignment decisions for the 20022003 school year, the Ninth Circuit withdrew its opinion, 294 F.3d 1084 (2002) (Parents Involved III), vacated the injunction, and, pursuant to Wash. Rev. By this term, I mean the school districts interest in eliminating school-by-school racial isolation and increasing the degree to which racial mixture characterizes each of the districts schools and each individual students public school experience. The District contends that the first two benefits are important because public schools are responsible for developing good citizens. Moreover, giving some degree of weight to a local school boards knowledge, expertise, and concerns in these particular matters is not inconsistent with rigorous judicial scrutiny. Code Ann. For Thomas, this means that no discrimination on the basis of race is permitted by the Constitution, even for a so-called "benign" purpose (Thomas rejected the notion that there could be a purely benign purpose in his concurrence in Adarand because the benignity or malignity of race-based discrimination turns on "whose ox is being gored" or is "in the eye of the beholder"). Their decision leaves thousands Parents Involved in Community Schools (PICS) (plaintiff) were parents of students denied assignment to particular schools under these plans solely because of their race. Brief for Petitioner at 3943. The distinctions between de jure and de facto segregation extended to the remedies available to governmental units in addition to the courts. tutional Provisions in the States Where Segregation in Education is Institutionalized). Pp. in No. The District also contends that the racial tiebreaker was necessary because other race-neutral activities were inadequate to achieve their compelling interests. 6, 39 Ill. 2d 593, 597598, 237 N.E. 2d 498, 501 (1968) (citations omitted) (citing decisions from the high courts of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, New York, and Connecticut, and from the Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Fourth, and Sixth Circuits). However, the government is entitled to consider race as one of several factors in determining school admissions and enrollment. When the 1965 plan was designed for Harford County, Maryland, the district was 92 percent white. Disfavoring a color-blind interpretation of the Constitution, the dissent would give school boards a free hand to make decisions on the basis of racean approach reminiscent of that advocated by the segregationists in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U. S.483 (1954). in No. Apr 4, 2018 27 Dislike Share Save Ronaq Sahni 8 subscribers A Brief Video explaining the case of Parents Involved In Community Schools v. Seattle School District. 10226e3(b) (1999). local tax dollars will be spent. Middle and high school students are designated a single resides school and assigned to that school unless it is at the extremes of the racial guidelines. It is reasonable to conclude that such resegregation can create serious educational, social, and civic problems. See, e.g., Shaw v. Hunt, 517 U. S. 899, 909910 (1996) ([A]n effort to alleviate the effects of societal discrimination is not a compelling interest); Croson, supra, at 498499; Wygant, 476 U. S., at 276 (plurality opinion) (Societal discrimination, without more, is too amorphous a basis for imposing a racially classified remedy); id., at 288 (OConnor, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment) ([A] governmental agencys interest in remedying societal discrimination, that is, discrimination not traceable to its own actions, cannot be deemed sufficiently compelling to pass constitutional muster). 05915, at 38, 42 (indicating that decisions are based on the racial guidelines without further explanation); id., at 81 (setting forth the blanket mandate that [s]chools shall work cooperatively with each other and with central office to ensure that enrollment at all schools [in question] is within the racial guidelines annually and to encourage that the enrollment at all schools progresses toward the midpoint of the guidelines); id., at 43, 7677, 8183; McFarland v. Jefferson Cty. The plans at issue are not overly different from other plans that school districts have used with the express or implicit approval of courts. As the foregoing demonstrates, racial balancing is sometimes a constitutionally permissible remedy for the discrete legal wrong of de jure segregation, and when directed to that end, racial balancing is an exception to the general rule that government race-based decisionmaking is unconstitutional. See, e.g., Schofield, School Desegregation and Intergroup Relations, in 17 Review of Research in Education 356 (G. Grant ed. See Tr. 11246, 30 Fed. Opposition to Writ of Certiorari at 20; Brief for Respondent at 16. Pp. Neither of the programs before us today is compelled as a remedial measure, and no one makes such a claim. The plan provoked considerable local opposition. 539 U. S., at 324325 (internal quotation marks omitted). Justice Breyer also suggests that other means for achieving greater racial diversity in schools are necessarily unconstitutional if the racial classifications at issue in these cases cannot survive strict scrutiny. there are two compelling interests: 1. remedying the effect of past intentional discrimination 2. interest of student body diversity in higher education 1. Research suggests, for example, that black children from segregated educational environments significantly increase their achievement levels once they are placed in a more integrated setting. in No. The measures required by those cases often included race-conscious practices, such as mandatory busing and race-based restrictions on voluntary transfers. We have found many. Contacting Justia or any attorney through this site, via web form, email, or otherwise, does not create an attorney-client relationship. The Court emphasized that education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. 347 U. S., at 493. The latter approach would be informed by Grutter, though the criteria relevant to student placement would differ based on the students age, the parents needs, and the schools role. 2d 358, 360 (2000). In the 20002001 school year, for example, with the racial tiebreaker, the entering ninth grade class at Franklin High School had a 60% minority population; without the racial tiebreaker that same class at Franklin would have had an almost 80% minority population. Assessed in any objective manner, there is no comparison between the two. Some studies have even found that a deterioration in racial attitudes seems to result from racial mixing in schools. 90a92a. See post, at 3745. Strict scrutiny applies to any government classification based on race. The Court likewise paid heed to societal practices, local expectations, and practical consequences by looking to the established usages, customs and traditions of the people, and with a view to the promotion of their comfort, and the preservation of the public peace and good order. Ibid. See Craig v. Boren, 429 U. S. 190, 211 (1976) (concurring opinion). The next tiebreaker depends upon the racial composition of the particular school and the race of the individual student. Seattle has never operated segregated schoolslegally separate schools for students of different racesnor has it ever been subject to court-ordered desegregation. Quoting Justice Powells articulation of diversity in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U. S. 265, 314315, the Grutter Court noted that it is not an interest in simple ethnic diversity, in which a specified percentage of the student body is in effect guaranteed to be members of selected ethnic groups, that can justify the use of race, 539 U. S., at 324325, but a far broader array of qualifications and characteristics of which racial or ethnic origin is but a single though important element, id., at 325. It is well established that when a governmental policy is subjected to strict scrutiny, the government has the burden of proving that racial classifications are narrowly tailored measures that further compelling governmental interests. Johnson, supra, at 505 (quoting Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peńa, 515 U. S. 200, 227 (1995)). In the Seattle case, the District Court granted the school district summary judgment, finding, inter alia, that its plan survived strict scrutiny on the federal constitutional claim because it was narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest. (citing Brief for Respondents, O.T. 1984, No. In fact, all the cases Justice Breyers dissent cites as evidence of the prevailing legal assumption, see post, at 2527, were decided before this Court definitively determined that all racial classifications must be analyzed by a reviewing court under strict scrutiny. Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peńa, 515 U. S. 200, 227 (1995). App. 1. Of these, 209 were assigned to a school that was one of their choices, 87 of whom were assigned to the same school to which they would have been assigned without the racial tiebreaker. That statement, to be sure, invites this response: A sense of stigma may already become the fate of those separated out by circumstances beyond their immediate control. Even after Brown, some schools with predominantly black enrollments have achieved outstanding educational results. See supra, at 3745. in No. The notion that a democratic interest qualifies as a compelling interest (or constitutes a part of a compelling interest) is proposed for the first time in todays dissent and has little basis in the Constitution or our precedent, which has narrowly restricted the interests that qualify as compelling. And even if the determination is difficult, it is one the dissent acknowledges must be made to determine what remedies school districts are required to adopt. As well, the District points out that it is no longer using the admission system that serves as the basis of this suit, and has not for several years, further demonstrating that any future injury is far from imminent. Id., at 3839, 82. The degree of heterogeneity within these districts is immediately apparent. Second, broad-range limits on voluntary school choice plans are less burdensome, and hence more narrowly tailored, see Grutter, supra, at 341, than other race-conscious restrictions this Court has previously approved. [Footnote 10] There are good reasons not to apply a lesser standard to these cases. The plans initial busing requirements were extensive, involving the busing of 23,000 students and a transportation fleet that had to operate from early in the morning until late in the evening. For typical students, the plan meant busing for several years (several more years for typical black students than for typical white students). See, e.g., Crain & Mahard, Desegregation and Black Achievement: A Review of the Research, 42 L. & Contemp. To School Committee of Boston? While it acknowledges that racial classifications are used to make certain assignment decisions, it fails to make clear, for example, who makes the decisions; what if any oversight is employed; the precise circumstances in which an assignment decision will or will not be made on the basis of race; or how it is determined which of two similarly situated children will be subjected to a given race-based decision. ); internal quotation marks omitted). The new plan permitted each student to choose the school he or she wished to attend, subject to race-based constraints. 05908, at 103a (describing application of racial tiebreaker based on current white percentage of 41 percent and current minority percentage of 59 percent (emphasis added)). 05908, p. 42. . At least one of the academic articles the dissent cites to support this proposition fails to establish a causal connection between the supposed educational gains realized by black students and racial mixing. And it has its roots in preventing what gradually may become the de facto resegregation of Americas public schools. My view of the Constitution is Justice Harlans view in Plessy: Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U. S. 537, 559 (1896) (dissenting opinion). 1 McFarland v. Jefferson Cty. But, as a judge, I do know that the Constitution does not authorize judges to dictate solutions to these problems. Research J., No. In this Courts paradigmatic segregation cases, there was a local ordinance, state statute, or state constitutional provision requiring racial separation. In doing so, it distorts precedent, it misapplies the relevant constitutional principles, it announces legal rules that will obstruct efforts by state and local governments to deal effectively with the growing resegregation of public schools, it threatens to substitute for present calm a disruptive round of race-related litigation, and it undermines Browns promise of integrated primary and secondary education that local communities have sought to make a reality.