Aaron v. Cooper

Decision Date27 August 1956
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 3113.
PartiesJohn AARON et al., Plaintiffs, v. William G. COOPER et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Eastern District of Arkansas

A. F. House, Frank E. Chowning, Leon B. Catlett, Henry E. Spitzberg, Richard C. Butler, Little Rock, Ark., for plaintiffs.

U. Simpson Tate, Dallas, Tex., Wiley A. Branton, Pine Bluff, Ark., Thurgood Marshall, Robert L. Carter, New York City, for defendants.

JOHN E. MILLER, District Judge.

This cause was tried to the court on August 15, 1956.

At the conclusion of the evidence, the case was argued orally by the able counsel for the respective parties and was submitted to and taken under advisement by the court.

The pleadings and evidence, along with the arguments and contentions of the attorneys, have been fully considered, and the court now files this opinion in lieu of formal findings of fact and conclusions of law, and incorporates herein as a part hereof the findings of fact and conclusions of law as provided by Rule 52(a), Fed.Rules Civ.Proc. 28 U.S.C.A.

On February 8, 1956, the minor plaintiffs between the ages of 6 and 21 years, through their legal representatives, filed their complaint in this court against the President and Secretary of the Board of Directors of Little Rock School District; the Superintendent of Little Rock School District; and the Little Rock School District itself.

The complaint is prolix and contains many redundant allegations. In brief, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants conspired and will continue to conspire to deprive the minor plaintiffs and members of the class of persons that they represent of their rights, privileges, and immunities as citizens of the United States and of the State of Arkansas by providing, affording, operating, and maintaining separate, segregated public free schools within the defendant District, for the minor plaintiffs and the members of the class of persons they represent because of their race and color contrary to and in violation of the Constitution and the laws of the United States; that the defendants are threatening to continue to so conspire and to deprive the minor plaintiffs and members of their class of their constitutional rights; that the minor plaintiffs, through their legal representatives, have petitioned the defendants to cease and desist from further unlawful discrimination against the minor plaintiffs.

The prayer of the complaint is that the court enter a decree declaring and defining the legal rights and relations of the parties in the subject matter in controversy; that a permanent injunction be issued enjoining and restraining the individual defendants and their successors in office, and the defendant District, its agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and their successors in office, from executing or enforcing against the minor plaintiffs, or any member of the class of persons they represent, any constitutional provision, statute, or ordinance of the State of Arkansas, or any rule or regulation made or issued by any administrative agency, board, or commission of the State of Arkansas, that permit, require, or sanction the separation or segregation of minor plaintiffs or any member of the class of persons that they represent in the use and enjoyment of any public school building, land, facility, privilege, or opportunity within the State of Arkansas, and particularly within the defendant District, or any public free school that is under the supervision or control of the defendants or any of them on the basis or classification of race or color.

On February 29, 1956, the defendants filed their answer to the complaint, and by their answer eliminated many of the allegations contained in the complaint. They alleged "that no State statute, no provision of the constitution of the State of Arkansas, and no rule or regulation promulgated by an administrative board of the State of Arkansas made pursuant to, or in purported reliance upon, a State statute or a State constitutional provision is involved herein * * * that they do not now rely, and have not since May 17, 1954, the date of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 74 S.Ct. 686, 98 L.Ed. 873, relied upon any State statute or State constitutional provision as authorizing segregation of the races in the public schools".

They denied that they have acted or purported to act since May 17, 1954, under any law of the State of Arkansas providing for schools on a separate and segregated basis because of race or color, or that they acted under the laws of the State of Arkansas in denying and refusing the minor plaintiffs, and the class they represent, the right and privilege of registration, enrolling, entering and attending classes and receiving instruction in the public schools operated by the defendant District.

Defendants alleged that since May 17, 1954, they have regarded as invalid the statutory provisions cited and set forth in the complaint of the plaintiffs, and that they do not rely upon said provisions in the plan they have adopted and propose for integration. The defendants also denied that they had conspired in any manner, or were then or now conspiring, to deprive the plaintiffs and the members of the class they represent of their rights and privileges and immunities as citizens of the United States and of the State of Arkansas, by providing and maintaining separate and segregated schools contrary to and in violation of the Constitution of the United States.

The defendants admitted that the adult plaintiffs "have met with defendants and have requested immediate integration, and that they have tendered their minor children to Central High School, Technical High School, Forest Heights Junior High School, and Forest Park Elementary School", all of which are within the defendant District, and that such schools are next most proximate to the residences of the adult plaintiffs.

Defendants further answering alleged that soon after the decision of the Supreme Court was handed down on May 17, 1954, they issued to the public press a statement setting forth their attitudes as to integration, and that later the defendants prepared a Plan of Integration. A copy of the public statement and a copy of the Plan of Integration are attached to the answer and made a part thereof.

"The defendants are now in good faith endeavoring to integrate the schools of the Little Rock School District in accordance with the terms and conditions and the time schedule as set forth in said Plan. The said Plan and the reasons which make it appropriate, reasonable, and necessary in this particular locality have been explained to the adult plaintiffs and to all others who have sought information from defendants."

The defendants then alleged that the Plan is peculiarly fit and suitable for the defendant District, and will best serve the educational needs of both races, and the personal interest of the plaintiffs in being admitted to the public schools as soon as practicable on a nondiscriminatory basis; that the plaintiffs unreasonably insist on a hasty integration which will be unwise, unworkable, and fraught with danger; that would prove detrimental to the personal interest of plaintiffs and the educational needs of both races, and would unnecessarily and inevitably hinder and retard the accomplishment of integration of the schools of the defendant District.

Thus, under the pleadings in this case there is no constitutional question involved. The defendants freely recognize their obligation to provide as soon as reasonably practicable integration in the defendant District. The primary, if not the only, question before the court is, to use the words of the Supreme Court, "the adequacy of any plans the defendants may propose to meet these problems and to effectuate a transition to a racially nondiscriminatory school system." 349 U.S. 294, 75 S.Ct. 756

There is no dispute between the parties as to the facts. They are as follows:

(1) The adult petitioners and minor plaintiffs are each citizens and residents of the City of Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas, and are each members of the Negro race. The defendants are the Little Rock School District, its Board of Directors and its Superintendent. This is a class action by plaintiffs seeking integration of public schools in the Little Rock School District.

(2) The Little Rock School District contains 32.9 square miles. It was created in 1870 and since its inception the various schools in the District have been operated on a segregated basis.

On May 20, 1954 (three days after the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686, 98 L.Ed. 873) the Little Rock School Board adopted a statement concerning "Supreme Court Decision — Segregation in Public Schools." This statement was released for publication on May 23, 1954, and, inter alia, it provided:

"* * * Until the Supreme Court of the United States makes its decision of May 17, 1954 more specific, Little Rock School District will continue with its present program.
"It is our responsibility to comply with Federal Constitutional Requirements and we intend to do so when the Supreme Court of the United States outlines the method to be followed.
"During this interim period we shall do the following:
"1. Develop school attendance areas consistent with the location of white and colored pupils with respect to present and future physical facilities in Little Rock School District.
"2. Make the necessary revisions in all types of pupil records in order that the transition to an integrated school system may serve the best interests of the entire school district.
"3. Make research studies needed for the implementation of a sound school program on an integrated basis. * * *"

(3) The School Board instructed the Superintendent, the defendant, Virgil Blossom, to prepare a plan for the integration of the schools in...

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27 cases
  • Little Rock Sch. Dist. v. Pulaski Cty. Spec. Sch., 4:82CV00866 WRW/JTR.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 8th Circuit. United States State District Court of Eastern District of Arkansas
    • 13 d5 Setembro d5 2002
    ...quick to pitch in. R. Reed, Faubus: The Life And Times Of An American Prodigal (1997). 18. In 1956, the plaintiffs in Aaron v. Cooper, 143 F.Supp. 855 (E.D.Ark.1956), filed suit against LRSD to force it to desegregate pursuant to the Court's holding in Brown I. In 1964, the plaintiffs filed......
  • Little Rock School Dist. v. Pulaski County Special School Dist. No. 1
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)
    • 7 d4 Novembro d4 1985
    ...was "the best for the interests of all pupils in the District." Id. The plan was approved by the federal district court, Aaron v. Cooper, 143 F.Supp. 855 (E.D.Ark.1956), and this Court, Aaron v. Cooper, 243 F.2d 361 (8th Cir.1957), and review was not sought in the Supreme Meanwhile, the sta......
  • Cooper v. Aaron 1958
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 29 d1 Setembro d1 1958
    ...Negro plaintiffs desiring more rapid completion of the desegregation process, the District Court upheld the School Board's plan, Aaron v. Cooper, 143 F.Supp. 855. The Court of Appeals affirmed, 8 Cir., 243 F.2d 361. Review of that judgment was not sought While the School Board was thus goin......
  • Clark v. Board of Education of Little Rock School Dist., 19795
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)
    • 13 d3 Maio d3 1970
    ...trial court in its entirety. APPENDIX * Judge Mehaffy took no part in the consideration or decision of these appeals. 1 Aaron v. Cooper, 143 F.Supp. 855 (E.D. Ark.1956), aff'd 243 F.2d 361 (8th Cir. 1957); Aaron v. Cooper, 2 Race Rel.L. Rep. 934-36, 938-41 (E.D.Ark.1957), aff'd Thomason v. ......
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