Wichita Falls Junior College Dist. v. Battle, 13967.

• Decision Date: 08 June 1953
• Docket Number: No. 13967.,13967.
• Citation: 204 F.2d 632
• Parties: WICHITA FALLS JUNIOR COLLEGE DIST. et al. v. BATTLE et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

204 F.2d 632 (1953)

WICHITA FALLS JUNIOR COLLEGE DIST. et al. v. BATTLE et al.

No. 13967.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

May 15, 1953.

Rehearing Denied June 8, 1953.

Guy Rogers, C. C. McDonald, and Thelbert Martin, Wichita Falls, Tex., for appellants.

Price Daniel, Austin, Tex., amicus curiæ.

W. J. Durham and U. Simpson Tate, Dallas, Tex., for appellees.

Before HUTCHESON, Chief Judge, and BORAH and RIVES, Circuit Judges.

BORAH, Circuit Judge.

This suit for a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief was brought in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas by six Negro students, citizens of Texas, seeking for themselves and for all others similarly situated and qualified the right of being admitted to Hardin Junior College, a State institution which under Texas law is open to white students only.

The plaintiffs are five minor children and one adult, a feme sole. The minors are represented by their parents and next friends and all have their residence in Wichita County, Texas, within the geographic limits of the defendant Wichita Falls Junior College District. The latter, a body corporate organized under the general education laws of Texas, operates, controls and supervises Hardin Junior College through the members of the Board of Trustees of the District and the officers of the college, all of whom are administrative officers of the State of Texas and are named as additional defendants herein.

The complaint alleges that plaintiffs made proper application for admission to Hardin Junior College, which is the only publicly supported junior college within the Wichita Falls Junior College District; that plaintiffs possessed all of the qualifications necessary for matriculation; and that the Board of Trustees and the college officers denied their applications solely on account of their race and color. Further, that the refusal of defendants to admit them constitutes a denial, under color of Texas law, of educational opportunities, facilities, and advantages substantially equal to those afforded white children, in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, § 1, and the rights secured by Title 8, U.S.C.A. § 41. The relief prayed was that the defendants be enjoined from excluding plaintiffs from admission to the college as students upon the ground of their membership in the Negro race, and that a statutory three-judge court be convened for the purpose of determining the constitutionality of the provisions of the Constitution¹ and statutes² of Texas which require racial segregation in State educational institutions.

The defendants in their answer and in the written stipulation on file admit that plaintiffs possessed all of the qualifications necessary for admission to the college and that the exclusion of plaintiffs from admission on account of their race and color was in accordance with the Constitution and statutes of Texas. Further, that defendants intend to pursue the policy of segregation of the white and colored races in classes conducted at the college until such time as the court shall declare such constitutional and statutory provisions unconstitutional and void.

The district court being of opinion that a three-judge court was not required, heard the case upon stipulated facts and entered judgment decreeing to the extent here pertinent, (1) that plaintiffs and other Negroes similarly qualified and situated were entitled to substantially equal educational opportunities and facilities within the Wichita Falls Junior College District as those afforded non-Negro students at Hardin Junior College; (2) that plaintiffs and all other qualified Negro students were forthwith to be admitted to Hardin Junior College; (3) that a writ of injunction issue enjoining defendants from discriminatorily denying to plaintiffs, on account of race and color, the right and privilege of attending said college and enjoying the use of all the educational opportunities and facilities there maintained and made available to all non-Negro students. The judgment further recites that a determination of the issues presented did not require a determination of the validity of any constitutional or statutory provision of Texas under the Fourteenth Amendment. From this judgment defendants have appealed.

The appellants contend that the trial court erred in failing to stay its hand pending an adjudication by the Supreme Court of Texas of the constitutionality of the aforementioned constitutional provision and statutes;³ in rendering judgment in a cause which should have been heard and determined by a statutory three-judge court pursuant to Title 28, U.S.C.A. § 2281;⁴ and in decreeing that the action taken by defendants was in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment. We do not at all agree.

There is no necessity for deciding the constitutionality of any provision of Texas law in determining the fact issues which this case presents. Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629, 70 S.Ct. 848, 94 L.Ed. 1114; Rescue Army v. Municipal Court, 331 U.S. 549, 568-574, 67 S.Ct. 1409, 91 L.Ed. 1666. In Sweatt v. Painter, supra, the issue, as here, related to the extent to which the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment limits the power of a State to distinguish between students of different races in a State-supported educational institution, and in disposing of this issue the court expressly pointed out that it was eliminating from the case the question of constitutionality of the State law which restricts admission to the University of Texas to white students. Other decisions of the Supreme Court are in accord. McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, 339 U.S. 637, 70 S.Ct. 851, 94 L.Ed. 1149; ...