Morris v. Williams
| Citation | 149 F.2d 703 |
| Decision Date | 19 June 1945 |
| Docket Number | No. 12887.,12887. |
| Parties | MORRIS (HIBBLER, Intervener) v. WILLIAMS et al. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit) |
Thurgood Marshall, of New York City, and J. R. Booker, of Little Rock, Ark. (William H. Hastie, of Washington, D. C., Edward R. Dudley, of New York City, and Myles A. Hibbler, of Little Rock, Ark., on the brief), for appellants.
A. F. House, of Little Rock, Ark. (Baucum Fulkerson and William Nash, both of Little Rock, Ark., on the brief), for appellees.
Luther Ely Smith and Victor B. Harris, both of St. Louis, Mo., and Nanette Dembitz, of Washington, D. C., on behalf of American Civil Liberties Union, amicus curiae.
Before SANBORN, WOODROUGH, and THOMAS, Circuit Judges.
This is a class suit commenced by Susie Morris, a negro school teacher of Little Rock, Arkansas, for herself and on behalf of other teachers and principals in the colored schools of Little Rock similarly situated. The defendants are the Board of Directors and the Superintendent of the public schools of the Little Rock Special School District. The purposes of the action are (1) to obtain a judgment or decree declaring that in violation of the 14th amendment to the Constitution of the United States the defendants are denying to the plaintiffs the equal protection of the laws and (2) for an injunction.
The complaint filed February 28, 1942, alleges that defendants now are maintaining and over a long period of years have consistently maintained the policy, custom and usage of paying negro teachers and principals in the public schools of the city less salary than white teachers and principals possessing the same professional qualifications, licenses and experience and performing the same duties and services as the negro teachers and principals, and that pursuant to such policy the defendants acting as agents of the State of Arkansas, have established and maintained a salary schedule which provides a lower scale of salaries for colored than for white teachers, and that such discrimination is based solely upon race or color.
The defendants in their answer filed March 27, 1942, denied that they maintain a policy, custom or usage in Little Rock of paying negro teachers and principals lower salaries than are paid white teachers and that if such difference in salaries exists it is not based in whole or in part upon race or color but solely on difference in special training, character, professional qualifications, experience, duties, services and accomplishments; and they denied that there exists a salary schedule for teachers in Little Rock, discriminatory or otherwise, in violation of the 14th Amendment.
The case was tried to the court on its merits in September and October, 1942. On March 10, 1944, the court made findings of fact and conclusions of law favorable to the defendants and entered the judgment from which this appeal is taken dismissing the complaint. The court's opinion, filed January 5, 1944, is reported in D.C., 59 F. Supp. 508.
Two issues, both of which were decided by the trial court in favor of the defendants, are presented here for determination. They are:
1. Did there exist in Little Rock a schedule of salaries for teachers in the public schools by which the negro teachers were discriminated against solely on account of race or color?
2. Did there exist a policy, custom or usage to pay negro teachers lower salaries than were paid to white teachers solely on account of race or color?
It was assumed throughout the trial in the district court and in the briefs filed in this court that if either of these questions must be answered in the affirmative such practice, schedule, policy, usage or custom violates the 14th Amendment and that judgment should have been for the plaintiff and the judgment entered should be reversed, unless a salary adjustment made by defendants since the trial in the lower court renders the case moot and requires an affirmance.
The question whether the complaint states a cause of action under the 14th Amendment was not discussed by the district court, and we need not discuss it at length. The point was necessarily decided, however, by the court's holding that it had jurisdiction of the parties and of the cause of action. The facts alleged in the complaint and admitted in the answer bring the issue clearly within the jurisdiction of the federal court requiring it to determine whether the defendants have violated the 14th Amendment in the manner charged. State of Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, 305 U.S. 337, 59 S.Ct. 232, 83 L.Ed. 208; Alston v. School Board of City of Norfolk, 4 Cir., 112 F.2d 992; Mills v. Board of Education of Anne Arundel County, D.C., 30 F.Supp. 245; McDaniel v. Board of Public Instruction, D.C., 39 F.Supp. 638; Thomas v. Hibbitts, D.C., 46 F.Supp. 368; Davis v. Cook, D.C., 55 F.Supp. 1004. For an illuminating discussion of the constitutional question involved see the opinion of Judge Parker in the Alston case, supra. See also the able opinion of Judge Underwood in Davis v. Cook, supra.
Article XIV of the Constitution of Arkansas of 1874 provides that "the State shall ever maintain a general, suitable and efficient system of free schools whereby all persons in the State between the ages of six and twenty-one years may receive gratuitous instruction" and that the supervision of the public schools shall "be vested in and confided to such officers as may be provided for by the General Assembly." Under this authority the general assembly has established a free school system (Ch. 147 Pope's Digest of Statutes of Arkansas) and has vested its maintenance and administration in a State Board of Education, a Commissioner of Education, school districts and local superintendents. Act 127 of Acts of 1941 of the General Assembly of Arkansas. The Little Rock Special School District exists as an administrative department of the State, Section 11490 of Pope's Digest of Statutes of Arkansas, and the defendants constitute its Board of Directors and Superintendent.
All teachers in Arkansas, including the teachers in Little Rock, are required to hold teaching licenses in accordance with rules of certification prescribed by the State Board of Education. Act 127 of the Acts of 1941 of the General Assembly. The duty of enforcing the system is imposed upon the Boards of Directors. The defendant Board of Directors controls and supervises the public schools of Little Rock, employs teachers, fixes their salaries and issues warrants for their payment. Section 11535, Pope's Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas. The school funds are derived from both local and state taxation.
The State of Arkansas has provided for the education of negro and white students in separate schools. Pope's Digest, § 11535 (c). The validity of this method of education has been sustained by the Supreme Court when the advantages and facilities afforded the two classes are substantially equal. See Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, supra, 305 U.S. at page 344, 59 S. Ct. 232, 83 L.Ed. 208. In the city of Little Rock negro teachers are employed for the negro schools and white teachers for the white schools. Both groups are a part of the same system under the supervision of one superintendent and subordinate supervisors or sponsors employed by the Board. There are 86 colored teachers in the system and approximately 320 white teachers. The defendant superintendent was first employed in February, 1941, approximately one year before the commencement of this suit.
The same courses of study and the same textbooks are used in all the schools of the city, both negro and white; and all schools are open the same number of days in the year and the same number of hours in each day.
The Board of Directors, consisting of six members elected annually by the people, is divided into two committees of three members each, a personnel committee and a finance committee. The finance committee prepares the budget and the personnel committee with the assistance of the superintendent allocates the funds allotted for salaries among the teachers. The salaries are recommended to the committee by the superintendent, and the report of the committee is submitted to the Board for its approval.
In light of this outline of the situation we shall consider the issues presented on this appeal.
First. Did there exist a discriminatory salary schedule? Upon this question the court found:
While there are some minor conflicts in the evidence upon this point the finding of the court is abundantly supported by the record. The burden was upon the plaintiff to establish the existence of a schedule. There was no evidence that a schedule was ever formally adopted by the Board by reference to which and by reference to the color of a teacher or to his qualifications, experience, or position, his salary could be determined.
Second. Did a discriminatory policy, custom or usage exist based solely on race or color? This question presents a more difficult problem than does the question relating to a formal schedule. On this issue the trial court found:
Rule 52(a) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. following section 723c, provides that "Findings of fact shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous." Counsel for defendants construe this to mean that if the findings of the trial court are based upon substantial evidence they will not be set...
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