Bradley v. Milliken, 72-1809-72-1814.

Citation484 F.2d 215
Decision Date19 November 1973
Docket NumberNo. 72-1809-72-1814.,72-1809-72-1814.
PartiesRonald BRADLEY et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. William G. MILLIKEN, Governor of Michigan, etc.; Board of Education of the City of Detroit, Defendants-Appellants, and Detroit Federation of Teachers Local 231, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, Defendant-Intervenor-Appellee, and Allen Park Public Schools et al., Defendants-Intervenors-Appellants, and Kerry Green et al., Defendants-Intervenors-Appellees.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

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Frank J. Kelley, Atty. Gen., Robert A. Derengoski, Sol. Gen., Lansing, Mich., George T. Roumell, Jr., Louis D. Beer, Russ D. Boltz, William M. Saxton, Detroit, Mich., Robert J. Lord, Fair Haven, Mich., for appellants.

Ralph B. Guy, Jr., U. S. Atty., David L. Norman, Asst. Atty. Gen., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for intervenor, United States.

Richard P. Condit, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., for intervenor, Southfield Public Schools.

Alexander B. Ritchie, Detroit, Mich., for intervenor, Denise Magdowski, and others.

Theodore Sachs, Ronald R. Helveston, Detroit, Mich., for intervenor, Detroit Federation.

William M. Saxton, John B. Weaver, Robert M. Vercruysse, X. Orhan, Detroit, Mich., for intervenor, Allen Park Public Schools.

Douglas H. West, Robert B. Webster, Detroit, Mich., for intervenor, Grosse Pointe Public Schools.

Kenneth B. McConnell, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., for intervenor, School District of City of Royal Oak.

William T. Downs, Detroit, Mich., for Inter-Faith Centers for Racial Justice, Inc., amicus curiae.

Theodore W. Swift, Foster, Lindemer, Swift & Collins, Lansing, Mich., Irwin Ellman Levin, Levin, Garvett, & Dill, Detroit, Mich., for intervenor, Michigan Education Assn.

Louis R. Lucas, William E. Caldwell, Ratner, Sugarmon & Lucas, Memphis, Tenn., J. Harold Flannery, Paul R. Dimond, Robert Pressman, Cambridge, Mass., Bruce A. Miller, Lucille Watts, Detroit, Mich., Jack Greenberg, Norman J. Chachkin, New York City, E. Winther McCroom, Cincinnati, Ohio, Nathaniel R. Jones, New York City, for appellees.

Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, and WEICK, EDWARDS, CELEBREZZE, PECK, McCREE, MILLER, KENT and LIVELY, Circuit Judges.

Certiorari Granted November 19, 1973. See 94 S.Ct. 538.

PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, delivered the opinion of the Court, in which EDWARDS, CELEBREZZE, PECK, McCREE and LIVELY, Circuit Judges, joined. WEICK, Circuit Judge (pp. 259-274) and MILLER, Circuit Judge (pp. 283, 284) filed dissenting opinions and KENT, Circuit Judge (pp. 274-283) filed a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. Circuit Judge KENT died May 28, 1973 after the opinions were in the hands of the printer.

PHILLIPS, Chief Judge.

This is a school desegregation case which, as originally filed, was directed against the school system of Detroit, Michigan, but on this appeal involves both Detroit and school districts located in the surrounding metropolitan area.

The present appeal is the fourth time that the case has been before this court since the complaint was filed August 18, 1970. The earlier decisions of this court are reported at Bradley v. Milliken, 433 F.2d 897 (6 Cir. 1970); Bradley v. Milliken, 438 F.2d 945 (6 Cir. 1971); and Bradley v. Milliken, 6 Cir., 468 F.2d 902. cert. denied, 409 U.S. 844, 93 S.Ct. 45, 34 L.Ed.2d 83 (1972). (On November 27, 1972, the original panel dismissed for want of jurisdiction an "emergency motion" by the Detroit Board of Education that State officials be required to provide funds to keep the Detroit public schools operating for 180 regular days of instruction during the current school year.) On February 27, 1973, the Supreme Court denied review in Bloomfield Hills School District v. Roth, West Bloomfield School District v. Roth, and Birmingham School District v. Roth, 410 U.S. 954, 93 S.Ct. 1418, 35 L.Ed. 2d 687. In these cases this court had denied applications for writs of mandamus or prohibition against District Judge Roth. The School Districts contended that the District Judge usurped jurisdiction by failing to convene three-judge courts and by subjecting the Schools Districts to his ruling and order in the school desegregation case in spite of the fact that the Districts were not parties to the desegregation proceedings and had not been found to have committed any act of de jure segregation. The action of the Supreme Court was without prejudice to the right of the School Districts to file application to intervene in the present action.)

Oral arguments were heard before a panel of this court on August 24, 1972. An opinion was announced by the panel on December 8, 1972, affirming two orders of the District Court, viz: (1) Ruling on Issue of Segregation, reported at 338 F.Supp. 582, and (2) Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on "Detroit only" plans of desegregation, dated March 28, 1972. The decision of the panel vacated the remaining three orders on appeal (enumerated below), but affirmed in principle the ruling of the District Court on the propriety of a metropolitan remedy to accomplish desegregation.

On January 16, 1973, this court granted rehearing in banc. Under the provisions of Rule 3(b) of the local rules of this court, the effect of granting rehearing in banc is "to vacate the previous opinion and judgment of the court, to stay the mandate and to restore the case on the docket as a pending appeal."

Oral arguments before the court in banc were heard February 8, 1973.

No specific desegregation plan has been ordered by the District Court. The procedural history of the litigation is set forth below.

Before this court at the present time are four interlocutory orders from which we have granted appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. ? 1292(b) and one final order, viz:

1. Ruling on Issue of Segregation, dated September 27, 1971, reported at 338 F.Supp. 582;

2. Findings of fact and conclusions of law on "Detroit only" plans of desegregation, dated March 28, 1972;

3. Ruling on Propriety of a Metropolitan Remedy to Accomplish Desegregation of the Public Schools of the City of Detroit, dated March 24, 1972;

4. Ruling on Desegregation Area and Development of Plan, and Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in support thereof, dated June 14, 1972, 345 F. Supp. 914; and

5. Order dated July 11, 1972, directing Michigan State officials to purchase 295 school buses (which this court considers to be a final order).

On July 13, 1972, following oral argument, the original panel granted a motion for a temporary stay of the District Court's order of July 11, 1972, ordering the purchase of 295 school buses.

On July 17, 1972, following oral argument, the original panel directed that its stay order remain in effect until entry by the District Court of a final desegregation order or until certification by the District Court of an appealable question as provided by 28 U.S.C. ? 1292(b).

Thereafter, on July 19, 1972, the District Court certified that the orders set forth above involve controlling questions of law, as provided by 28 U.S.C. ? 1292(b), and made a determination of finality under Rule 54(b), Fed.R.Civ.P.

On July 20, 1972, the original panel entered an order granting the interlocutory appeal concluding that:

"Among the substantial questions presented there is at least one difficult issue of first impression that never has been decided by this court or the Supreme Court. In so holding we imply nothing as to our view of the merits of this appeal. We conclude that an immediate appeal may materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation."

The motion for leave to appeal was granted and the case was advanced for oral arguments on the merits on August 24, 1972.

The July 20, 1972 order of the original panel included the following stay order, which has remained in effect pending final disposition of the appeal on its merits:

"The motion for stay pending appeal having been considered, it is further ORDERED that the Order for Acquisition of Transportation, entered by the District Court on July 11, 1972, and all orders of the District Court concerned with pupil and faculty reassignment within the Metropolitan Area beyond the geographical jurisdiction of the Detroit Board of Education, and all other proceedings in the District Court other than planning proceedings, be stayed pending the hearing of this appeal on its merits and the disposition of the appeal by this court, or until further order of this court. This stay order does not apply to the studies and planning of the panel which has been appointed by the District Court in its order of June 14, 1972, which panel was charged with the duty of preparing interim and final plans of desegregation. Said panel is authorized to proceed with its studies and planning during the disposition of this appeal, to the end that there will be no unnecessary delay in the implementation of the ultimate steps contemplated in the orders of the District Court in event the decision of the District Court is affirmed on appeal. Pending disposition of the appeal, the defendants and the School Districts involved shall supply administrative and staff assistance to the aforesaid panel upon its request. Until further order of this court, the reasonable costs incurred by the panel shall be paid as provided by the District Court\'s order of June 14, 1972."

This court also has granted leave to appeal to various intervening parties and leave to file numerous amicus briefs. The briefs and arguments of all the parties have been considered in the disposition of this appeal.

We agree with two of the rulings of the District Court summarized above: (1) The Ruling on the Issue of Segregation and (2) the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on "Detroit only" plans of desegregation. We hold that the findings of fact of the District Court as set forth in these rulings are not clearly erroneous, Rule 52(a), Fed. R.Civ.P., but to the contrary are...

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