State ex rel. Hawkins v. Board of Control

• Decision Date: 19 October 1955
• Citation: 83 So.2d 20
• Parties: The STATE of Florida, ex rel. Virgil D. HAWKINS, Relator. v. BOARD OF CONTROL, a body corporate, et al., Respondents.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 20

83 So.2d 20

The STATE of Florida, ex rel. Virgil D. HAWKINS, Relator. v. BOARD OF CONTROL, a body corporate, et al., Respondents.

Supreme Court of Florida, En Banc.

Oct. 19, 1955.

Horace E. Hill, Daytona Beach, and Robert L. Carter, New York City, for relator.

Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., and Frank J. Heintz, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondents.

ROBERTS, Justice.

This cause came on for reconsideration in accordance with the mandate of the Supreme Court of the United States entered on May 24, 1954. The history of the case is set forth in State ex rel. Hawkins v. Board of Control of Florida, Fla., 47 So.2d 608; Id., Fla., 53 So.2d 116, certiorari denied 342 U.S. 877, 72 S.Ct. 166, 96 L.Ed. 659; Id., Fla., 60 So.2d 162, certiorari granted 347 U.S. 971, 74 S.Ct. 783, 98 L.Ed. 1112. By and through this litigation, the relator seeks admission to the College of Law of the University of Florida on the basis that it is a tax-supported institution, that he is in all respects qualified, and that his admission has been refused solely because he is a member of the Negro race. His admission was denied by this court and his cause dismissed on August 1, 1952, for the reason that there was available to him adequate opportunity for legal education at the Law School of the Florida A. & M. University, an institution supported by the State of Florida for the higher education of Negroes, and that, although the facilities were not identical, they were substantially equal and were sufficient to satisfy his rights under the 'separate but equal' doctrine announced by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1896, in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 16 S.Ct. 1138, 1144, 41 L.Ed. 256, and subsequent cases. See State ex rel. Hawkins v. Board of Control, supra, 60 So.2d 162.

The relator appealed our decision to the Supreme Court of the United States, where it was considered with other comparable appeals there, one of which was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down its first opinion in the Brown case, reported in 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686, 691, 98 L.Ed. 873, 38 A.L.R.2d 1180, by which it announced the end of segregation in the public schools and rejected the 'separate but equal' doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson, supra, in the following language:

'In Sweatt v. Painter, supra (339 U.S. 629, 70 S.Ct. 848 (94 L.Ed. 1114)) in finding that a segregated law school for Negroes could not provide them equal educational opportunities, this Court relied in large part on 'those qualities which are incapable of objective measurement but which make for greatness in a law school.' In McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, supra, (339 U.S. 637, 70 S.Ct. 853) the Court, in requiring that a Negro admitted to a white graduate school be treated like all other students, again resorted to intangible considerations: '* * * his ability to study, to engage in discussions and exchange views with other students, and, in general, to learn his profession.' Such considerations apply with added force to children in grade and high schools. To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone. * * *

'whatever may have been the extent of psychological knowledge at the time of Plessy v. Ferguson, this finding is amply supported by modern authority. Any language in Plessy v. Ferguson contrary to this finding is rejected.

'We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. This disposition makes unnecessary any discussion whether such segregation also violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.'

On May 24, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States 347 U.S. 971, 74 S.Ct. 783, 98 L.Ed. 1112 vacated our judgment of August 1, 1952, and directed our reconsideration of the instant case in the light of its opinion of May 17, 1954, in the Brown case, supra, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686 'and conditions that now prevail.' Under order of this court, all pleadings were brought down to date and now pose the single question of whether or not the relator is entitled to be admitted to the University of Florida Law School upon showing that he has met the routine entrance requirements. In its May 17, 1954, opinion in the Brown case, the Supreme Court of the United States reserved jurisdiction for the purpose of making further orders, judgments and decrees and, pursuant to that reservation of jurisdiction, on May 31, 1955, entered a supplemental opinion (reported in 349 U.S. 294, 75 S.Ct. 753, 756, 99 L.Ed. -, and referred to hereafter as the 'implementation decision') in which it said:

'Full implementation of these constitutional principles may require solution of varied local school problems. School authorities have the primary responsibility for elucidating, assessing, and solving these problems; courts will have to consider whether the action of school authorities constitutes good faith implementation of the governing constitutional principles. Because of their proximity to local conditions and the possible need for further hearings, the courts which originally heard these cases can best perform this judicial appraisal. Accordingly, we believe it appropriate to remand the cases to those courts.

'In fashioning and effectuating the decrees, the courts will be guided by equitable principles. Traditionally, equity has been characterized by a practical flexibility in shaping its remedies and by a facility for adjusting and reconciling public and private needs. These cases call for the exercise of these traditional attributes of equity power.

'At stake is the personal interest of the plaintiffs in admission to public schools as soon as practicable on a non-discriminatory basis. To effectuate this interest may call for elimination of a variety of obstacles in making the transition to school systems operated in accordance with the constitutional principles set forth in our May 17, 1954, decision. Courts of equity may properly take into account the public interest in the elimination of such obstacles in a systematic and effective manner. But it should go without saying that the vitality of these constitutional principles cannot be allowed to yield simply because of disagreement with them.

'While giving weight to these public and private considerations, the courts will require that the defendants make a prompt and reasonable start toward full compliance with our May 17, 1954, ruling. Once such a start has been made, the courts may find that additional time is necessary to carry out the ruling in an effective manner. The burden rests upon the defendants to establish that such time is necessary in the public interest and is consistent with good faith compliance at the earliest practicable date. To that end, the courts may consider problems related to administration, arising from the physical condition of the school plant, the school transportation system, personnel, revision of school districts and attendance areas into compact units to achieve a system of determining admission to the public schools on a non-racial basis, and revision of local laws and regulations which may be necessary in solving the foregoing problems. They will also consider the adequacy of any plans the defendants may propose to meet these problems and to effectuate a transition to a racially nondiscriminatory school system. During this period of transition, the courts will retain jurisdiction of these cases.

'The judgment below, except that in the Delaware case, are accordingly reversed and remanded to the District Courts to take such proceedings and enter such orders and decrees consistent with this opinion as are necessary and proper to admit to public schools on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed the parties to these cases. * * *

'It is so ordered.'

Article VI of the Constitution of the United States provides, among other things, the following:

'This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.' (Emphasis added).

The theory of 'separate but equal' facilities under which this state has developed its educational system since Plessy v. Ferguson, supra, was decided in 1896, has been abolished by the decision of the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, supra, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686; and we deem it to be our inescapable duty to abide by this decision of the United States Supreme Court interpreting the federal constitution. It therefore follows that the respondents may not lawfully refuse to admit the relator to the University of Florida Law School merely because he is a member of the Negro race and 'separate but equal' facilities have been provided for him at a separate law school. Nor can we sustain the contention of respondents that 'the adverse psychological effect of segregation on Negro children on which the case of Brown v. Board of Education, supra, rested would have no application to the petitioner who is a college graduate and 48 years of age,' which they present in defense of their action in refusing to admit relator to the University of Florida Law School.

The respondents also state, however, as a third defense to such action,...