SEATTLE SCHOOL DIST. NO. 1, ETC. v. State

• Decision Date: 15 June 1979
• Docket Number: No. C78-753V.,C78-753V.
• Citation: 473 F. Supp. 996
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Washington
• Parties: SEATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1 OF KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON, a Municipal Corporation, et al., Plaintiffs, and American Civil Liberties Union et al., Intervenor Plaintiffs, v. The STATE of Washington et al., Defendants, and Citizens for Voluntary Integration Committee (Ci.V.I.C.) et al., Intervenor Defendants.

473 F. Supp. 996

SEATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1 OF KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON, a Municipal Corporation, et al., Plaintiffs and American Civil Liberties Union et al., Intervenor Plaintiffs, v. The STATE of Washington et al., Defendants and Citizens for Voluntary Integration Committee (Ci.V.I.C.) et al., Intervenor Defendants.

No. C78-753V.

United States District Court, W. D. Washington.

June 15, 1979.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Foster, Pepper & Riviera, Camden M. Hall, Seattle, Wash., associated with Michael W. Hoge, Seattle, Wash., Asst. Gen. Counsel for Seattle School Dist. No. 1, for Seattle School Dist. No. 1 of King County, Washington, and original plaintiffs except Tacoma School Dist.

Kane, Vandeberg & Hartinger, Elvin J. Vandeberg, Tacoma, Wash., for Tacoma School Dist.

Thomas F. Carr, Asst. Atty. Gen., Malachy Murphy, Deputy Asst. Atty. Gen., Olympia, Wash., for State of Washington and other state defendants.

Short, Cressman & Cable, James A. Oliver, Seattle, Wash., for Ci.V.I.C.

Davis, Wright, Todd, Riese & Jones, Thomas A. Lemly, Seattle, Wash., for Church Counsel of Greater Seattle, Siquelands and Higashis.

Davis, Wright, Todd, Riese & Jones, Hall Baetz, Seattle, Wash., for Pasco Neighborhood Council, et al.

Shidler, McBroom, Gates & Baldwin, Wm. H. Neukom, Seattle, Wash., for Seattle Urban League, Proctors, Hazzards, Conyears and Elliott.

Sweet & Dussault, William L. E. Dussault, Seattle, Wash., for American Friends Service Committee and Gallegos.

Franco, Asia, Bensussen, Coe & Finegold, James S. Rogers, Seattle, Wash., for American Jewish Committee, Seattle Chapter.

MacDonald, Hoague & Bayless, Frederick L. Noland, Seattle, Wash., for American Civil Liberties Union, Levants and Shoji.

Burton, Crane, Covello, Philip L. Burton, Seattle, Wash., for NAACP Seattle Branch, Loren Miller Bar Assoc., Howells and Laytons.

Susan Barnes, Asst. U.S. Atty., Seattle, Wash., Iris Green, Atty., Civil Rights Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for United States.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

VOORHEES, District Judge.

Based upon the complete record in this case, including testimony and evidence introduced at the trial of this matter, the Court makes the following:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Parties

1.1 Plaintiff Seattle School District No. 1 of King County, Washington (sometimes called "Seattle" or the "District" herein) is under Revised Code of Washington Title 28A ("RCW 28A") a lawfully organized and functioning municipal corporation. It is charged by law of the State of Washington "to provide without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste or sex . . . a general and uniform system of public schools" (An.Const. art. IX, §§ 1 and 2) for the educational instruction of the approximately 54,000 common school students, of whom 37.3 percent are racial minorities according to current federal reporting categories, in kindergarten and grades 1 through 12. There are approximately 112 schools in Seattle, which is the largest public school district in the State of Washington, the boundaries of which are substantially coterminous with the boundaries of the City of Seattle, King County, Washington.

1.2 Plaintiff Tacoma School District No. 10 of Pierce County, Washington (sometimes "Tacoma" herein) is under RCW 28A a lawfully organized and functioning municipal corporation. It is charged by law of the State of Washington "to provide without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste or sex . . . a general and uniform system of public schools" for the educational instruction of the approximately 29,000 common school students, of whom 20 percent are racial minorities according to current federal reporting categories, in kindergarten and grades 1 through 12. There are approximately 57 schools in Tacoma, which includes the City of Tacoma, the incorporated towns of Fircrest and Ruston and the unincorporated areas of Hunt's Prairie, Dash Point and Brown's Point which are substantially coterminous with the boundaries of the City of Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington.

1.3 Plaintiff Pasco School District No. 1 of Franklin County, Washington (sometimes "Pasco" herein) is under RCW 28A a lawfully organized and functioning municipal corporation. It is charged by law of the State of Washington "to provide without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste or sex . . . a general and uniform system of public schools" for the educational instruction of the approximately 5,300 common school students, of whom 26.5 percent are racial minorities according to current federal reporting categories, in kindergarten and grades 1 through 12. There are approximately ten schools in the Pasco School District, which includes the City of Pasco and the contiguous unincorporated areas of south Franklin County, Washington.

1.4 Plaintiff Board of Directors of Seattle School District No. 1 (sometimes the "Board" herein) is composed of seven publicly elected members. The Board commits itself and adopts policy by a majority vote of its members. It is the statutorily constituted legislative, adjudicative, and administrative governing body of the District and is responsible for operating and setting administrative and educational policy for the District. All plaintiff Board members have taken as a prior condition of assuming their public duties the following oath of office:

I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of Director, Seattle School District No. 1 as prescribed by law and to the best of my ability, and that I will support and maintain the Constitution of the State of Washington and the United States. So help me God.

1.5 As indicated in the caption to this document plaintiffs Sutton, Alexander, Bleakney, Olson, Hollingsworth and Hittman are members of the Seattle School Board whose identified children are attending school in Seattle. They have been declared guardians ad litem for those children by Order of this Court.

1.6 Plaintiffs Vassar, Annie Jones, Wasserman, Davis, Andrews, Tangalin, Santos, Marr, Joe and Mona Jones, Charles, and Taupule are parents of children, identified in the caption to this document, who are attending school in Seattle. They have been declared guardians ad litem for those children by the Order of this Court.

1.7 The individual plaintiff students represent the diverse racial and ethnic mix of students in Seattle.

1.8 Intervenor plaintiff American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU of Washington) is the Washington State affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, a nationwide, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to the promotion and protection of the civil rights and liberties of all persons.

1.9 Intervenor plaintiff American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is an international social change organization related to the Society of Friends (Quakers). Among the AFSC's basic goals is the protection and promotion of the civil rights and liberties of all persons.

1.10 Intervenor plaintiff Church Council of Greater Seattle is an ecumenical organization established in 1969 to provide a structure within which 22 church denominations (local congregations, and church-related entities, Protestant and Catholic, in the Metropolitan Seattle Area) can work cooperatively.

1.11 Intervenor plaintiff Loren Miller Bar Association, a Washington nonprofit corporation, is comprised of approximately 45 lawyers admitted to practice in one or more states of the United States. It is an affiliate of the National Bar Association, comprised of lawyers of minority races. The Loren Miller Bar Association was organized statewide in the mid-1960's, having as a primary purpose the provision of legal assistance to minority persons in cases involving deprivation of civil rights and liberties.

1.12 Intervenor plaintiff Seattle Branch, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Seattle Branch, NAACP) is the local affiliate of the NAACP. Throughout its 60 year existence, the NAACP has had as a primary purpose the achievement of quality integrated education for all persons regardless of race.

1.13 Intervenor plaintiff Seattle Chapter of the American Jewish Committee is the local branch of a national organization founded in 1906 with stated purposes of resisting and eliminating racism, bigotry and anti-Semitism.

1.14 Intervenor Plaintiff Seattle Urban League is a local affiliate of the National Urban League, a nationwide, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to equal opportunity and racial justice.

1.15 Each of the intervenor plaintiff organizations described in paragraphs 1.8 through 1.14 above has members or constituents whose minor children attend the Seattle schools, and each intervenor plaintiff sues on its own behalf and on behalf of such members and their children.

1.16 The individual intervenor plaintiffs named in the caption to this document are taxpayers residing within the boundaries of Seattle and are parents of minor children, named in the caption to this document, who attend public schools in Seattle. These individual plaintiffs are black, white, Chicano, and Asian-American citizens of the United States who bring this action each on their own behalf and on behalf of their minor children, for whom they have been appointed guardians ad litem by Order of this Court.

1.17 The rights of the members or constituents of the above intervenor plaintiff organizations and other persons to equal protection of the laws is germane to the organizational purposes of the intervenor plaintiff organizations.

1.18 Additional intervening plaintiff East Pasco Neighborhood Council is a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Washington in 1971. The East Pasco Neighborhood Council is primarily composed of minority individuals and families. The general membership resides in an area known as "East Pasco." East Pasco is an area which has been physically segregated from the business...