Smith v. Young Men's Christian Ass'n of Montgomery

• Decision Date: 14 June 1972
• Docket Number: No. 71-1188.,71-1188.
• Citation: 462 F.2d 634
• Parties: Vincent Leonard SMITH et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. The YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF MONTGOMERY, INC., et al., Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

462 F.2d 634 (1972)

Vincent Leonard SMITH et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. The YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF MONTGOMERY, INC., et al., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 71-1188.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

June 14, 1972.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Oakley Melton, Jr., Charles A. Stakely, Jr., Montgomery, Ala., Joseph D. Phelps, Asst. City Atty., Montgomery, Ala. (amicus curiae City of Montgomery, Ala.), for defendants-appellants.

Morris Dees, Jr., Joseph Levin, Jr., Montgomery, Ala., Levin & Dees, Fred D. Gray, Gray, Seay & Langford, Montgomery, Ala., for plaintiffs-appellees.

Before WISDOM, COLEMAN and SIMPSON, Circuit Judges.

SIMPSON, Circuit Judge:

We review on appeal a finding by the district court (Chief Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr.) that the Young Men's Christian Association of Montgomery, Inc. (YMCA) had engaged in a pattern and practice of racial discrimination by operating segregated branches and by excluding Negroes from certain activities. The lower court held that the YMCA had violated the rights of appellees (plaintiffs below) and the rights of the class they represent, members of the Negro race, under the Equal Protection Clause of Amendment XIV to the Constitution as well as their statutory rights under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (Title 42 U.S.C., §§ 1981, 1983) and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title 42 U.S.C. § 2000a et seq.), enjoined further discriminatory practices by the YMCA, and ordered affirmative relief.¹ We modify slightly the relief granted, and affirm.

I. THE FACTUAL SETTING

The Organization of the Montgomery YMCA

The Montgomery YMCA is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization incorporated under the laws of the State of Alabama. It offers a variety of recreational, spiritual and educational programs and activities in and around the City of Montgomery. The YMCA presently operates five branches in the greater Montgomery area — Central, South, East, Cleveland Avenue, and Prattville² — and had a total membership at the time of institution of this suit, June 1969, of approximately 18,000. The YMCA also operates a Camp Branch, which includes the two YMCA camps, Camp Belser and Camp Rotary. Each branch (excluding the Camp Branch) provides members with numerous recreational activities, such as swimming, scuba diving, table tennis, basketball, tennis, et cetera. The Camp Branch activities include swimming, boating, waterskiing, archery, and arts and crafts. In addition, the YMCA's recreational facilities include five gymnasiums, a health club, and eight swimming pools. Twenty percent of the YMCA's annual income comes from the Montgomery United Appeal Fund. By state statute it is exempt from taxes of any kind: state, county, municipal, licenses, fees or charges of any kind. Code of Alabama, Title 51, Section 12 (1957). Its physical assets are valued at almost $2,000,000. The YMCA operates extensive programs in the City of Montgomery and provides recreational programs for the general public. For example, over 2,400 young people participated each day in 1968 in various YMCA programs. In addition, in 1968 approximately 3,500 young people swam daily in the eight YMCA pools, the only pools open to the public in Montgomery. The YMCA operates numerous large scale programs open to the nonmember general public. These include football, Hi-Y, Tri Hi-Y and others.

The YMCA is operated and controlled by an all-white city-wide Board of Directors. Of approximately 18,000 YMCA members at the time suit was brought only 285 were eligible to vote for the Board of Directors. These "voting members" were originally selected by the Board of Directors. A voting membership committee from the board is appointed annually by the YMCA President to nominate new "voting members", who are then voted on by the then existing "voting members". The "voting members" in turn annually elect the new Board of Directors. Thus the entire YMCA organization is controlled by the board and the "voting members". Each branch of the YMCA is run by a Board of Managers appointed by the President of the YMCA with the approval of the Board of Directors.

Membership is open to the general public, the only qualifications being that the applicant be of "good moral character", in sympathy with the aims and purposes of the organization, and a citizen of Montgomery. The only other requirements for membership are the filing of an application form and the payment of annual dues. The YMCA offers eight different types of membership, ranging in cost from $15.00 to $125.00. Except for the "voting members", membership carries no voting rights. The application form asks only for the name, home address and phone number, sex, business address and phone number of the applicant; no other pertinent information such as personal or credit references is requested on the form. Applicants are rarely interviewed, and usually no investigation is made upon the receipt of an application form.

Neither the constitution nor the bylaws of the association limits the number of members, and almost all who apply are accepted for membership. In addition, no rules or regulations govern or define the rights and responsibilities of the members vis-a-vis the organization. For example the bylaws do not authorize the YMCA to discipline or expel its members. Members own no shares and have no property interest in the corporation; title to all the facilities is in the name of the YMCA. The general membership never meets together as an official group and never votes on any of the organization's policy decisions.

The Montgomery YMCA is an affiliate of the National Association of YMCAs, and honors membership cards from other associations. Out-of-state travelers use the facilities of the Montgomery YMCA, and pay special dues. There are no lodging facilities or dormitory space in any of the YMCA's buildings. No meal service, cafeterias, cafes, or restaurants are operated in the YMCA's buildings, although it operates some snack bars. Much of the recreational equipment used by the Montgomery YMCA is manufactured outside the State of Alabama.

"State Action" and the 1958 Accord

The Montgomery YMCA has a virtual monopoly on many of the recreational activities it offers, resulting largely from a cooperative agreement between the City of Montgomery and the YMCA in 1958. At that time, a "Montgomery Park and Recreation Department — YMCA Co-ordination Committee" was established to co-ordinate the facilities and programs of the YMCA with those of the city "in order to eliminate any conflict or duplication of efforts".

The historical background of the establishment of the cooperative agreement is revealing. On June 4, 1957, the City of Montgomery passed an ordinance requiring segregation in all public recreational facilities. On December 22, 1958, eight Negro plaintiffs filed a class action in the court below, asking that the ordinance and the city's policy and practice of operating segregated recreational parks be declared unconstitutional.³ Immediately upon being faced with suit the City Recreation Department Board of Commissioners by a resolution closed all of the city's recreational parks, athletic fields, swimming facilities, and playgrounds to all persons. The resolution was made effective January 1, 1959. On September 9, 1959, the district court held the ordinance and the policy and practice of the city in operating segregated parks to be unconstitutional and enjoined the defendant Board of Commissioners from enforcing the ordinance and from operating the municipal parks, when and if they were reopened, on a segregated basis. Gilmore v. City of Montgomery, M.D.Ala.1959, 176 F.Supp. 776, modified to direct retention of jurisdiction, and as modified, affirmed, 5 Cir.1960, 277 F.2d 364.

During this period the city and the YMCA decided to co-ordinate their efforts. Negotiations apparently began in the Spring of 1958. A special committee composed of Board and key staff members of the YMCA and the City Park and Recreation Department was established to study the recreational services offered by each organization.⁴ The Montgomery Park and Recreation Board is, by state statute, given responsibility "for the direction, supervision, and promotion of such recreational programs as will contribute to the general welfare of the residents" of Montgomery. Ala.Code, Appendix, Pt. II, Art. 35A, § 1317(51) (1969).

The "Co-ordination Committee" proposed a two-part plan which was adopted by the city and the YMCA on November 13, 1958. First, the Recreation Department and the YMCA were to co-ordinate their various athletic programs so that both agencies would not be offering similar programs for the same age group. The YMCA, for example, was to supervise most of the athletic programs for all the elementary school children in the city, while the Recreation Department was to offer the same programs for the city's junior high school students. Since the city did not own or operate any swimming pools, the YMCA was to administer the city's entire swimming program. Second, the YMCA branches were to co-ordinate their club programs and informal education classes with those of the City Community Centers in their neighborhood areas. Whenever a YMCA branch and a community center were situated in the same school district, a member of the branch YMCA Board of Managers was to meet on a regular basis with a member of the Community Center Council to insure coordination of efforts. This plan, which was reviewed by the committee in 1959, and revised and expanded in 1965,⁵ is still in effect today.⁶

The recommendations of this committee have had a substantial impact on the number and types of programs offered by the Montgomery YMCA. The YMCA offers no programs which either duplicate or conflict with those given by the Recreation Department.⁷ As a result of this cooperative agreement, the YMCA has been the recipient of numerous benefits from the city. To illustrate, the YMCA is given free use of the...