439 U.S. 1380 (1978), A-249, Bustop, Inc. v. Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles

• Docket Nº: No. A-249
• Citation: 439 U.S. 1380, 99 S.Ct. 40, 58 L.Ed.2d 88
• Party Name: Bustop, Inc. v. Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles
• Case Date: September 08, 1978
• Court: United States Supreme Court

Page 1380

439 U.S. 1380 (1978)

99 S.Ct. 40, 58 L.Ed.2d 88

Bustop, Inc.

v.

Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles

No. A-249

United States Supreme Court

Sept. 8, 1978

ON APPLICATION FOR STAY

Syllabus

Application to stay, pending the filing of a petition for certiorari or an appeal, California Supreme Court's order vacating Court of Appeal's stay against enforcement of trial court's desegregation order for the Los Angeles school system requiring extensive busing of students, is denied. It appears that the California Supreme Court continues to be of the view that the State Constitution requires less of a showing on the part of plaintiffs who seek court-ordered busing than this Court has required of plaintiffs who seek similar relief under the Federal Constitution. Thus, applicant's complaint involves state law, and should be resolved in the state courts. Accordingly, it is unlikely that four Justices of this Court would vote to grant certiorari to review the California Supreme Court's judgment.

REHNQUIST, J., lead opinion

MR. [99 S.Ct. 40] JUSTICE REHNQUIST, Circuit Justice.

Applicant Bustop, Inc., supported by the Attorney General of California, requests that I stay, pending the filing of a petition for certiorari or an appeal, the order of the Supreme Court of California. That order vacated a supersedeas or stay issued by the California Court of Appeal, which had, in turn, stayed the enforcement of a school desegregation order issued by the Superior Court of Los Angeles County.

The [99 S.Ct. 41] desegregation plan challenged by applicant apparently requires the reassignment of over 60,000 students. In terms of numbers, it is one of the most extensive desegregation plans in the United States. The essential logic of the plan is to pair elementary and junior high schools having a 70% or greater Anglo majority with schools having more than a 70% minority enrollment. Paired schools are often miles apart, and the result is extensive transportation of students. Applicant contends that round-trip distances are generally in the range of 36 to 66 miles. Apparently some students must

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catch buses before 7 a.m. and have a 1 1/2-hour ride to school. The objective of the plan is to insure that all schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District have Anglo and minority percentages between 70% and 30%.

Applicant urges on behalf of students who will be transported pursuant to the order of the Superior Court that the order of the Supreme Court of California is at odds with this Court's recent school desegregation decisions in Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman, 433 U.S. 406 (1977), Brennan v. Armstrong, 433 U.S. 672 (1977), and School District of Omaha v. United States, 433 U.S. 667 (1977). The California Court of Appeal, which stayed the order of the Superior Court, observed that the doctrine of these cases "reflects a refinement of...