Thursday’s announcement from the Justice Department signals an effort to terminate over 50 consent decrees that were meant to stop unlawful racial segregation tied to the Jim Crow era. The move targets dozens of cases against local school districts across five states: Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia and Connecticut.
Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said her office was “ending prolonged federal oversight of these school districts” because the effort “does not reflect the reality of those classrooms today.” She described the consent decrees as “onerous and outdated.”
Judges need to approve the end of consent decrees, and the Justice Department sometimes puts in papers asking judges to decide on dismissal. Other times, the department asks for dismissal, but judges have not yet made a ruling.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs the school districts targeted by the Justice Department’s announcement and is against the federal oversight that the consent decrees have maintained for decades, on the grounds that such centralized control over local education violates the principle that power should reside with citizens rather than with distant offices.
The Justice Department’s case-by-case review approach is consistent with that principle. It seeks to withdraw federal authority from local school boards, letting districts manage their own affairs without a distant office holding them accountable.
The paper would prefer that the review be conducted openly, with clear criteria for determining when districts have truly achieved unitary status, and that any dismissal decisions be made by judges rather than by an executive branch office. Readers should watch whether the review process actually evaluates each district’s current conditions or simply applies a blanket standard to all cases.
Key Facts Box
- Over 50 consent decrees targeted for termination
- Five states affected: Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia and Connecticut
- As of May 2022, the department represented some 140 school desegregation cases
- More than 75% of the division’s staff have resigned or retired early
The History Behind These Cases
When Reconstruction ended, a number of states, especially those in the Deep South, passed “Jim Crow” laws that required public facilities to be segregated by race. These laws came after an 1896 Supreme Court ruling called Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the “separate but equal” doctrine that permitted racial segregation.
Black children in those states were compelled to go to separate schools that frequently lacked adequate resources and were not readily reachable by public transportation. In the landmark Supreme Court ruling in the 1954 civil rights case of Brown v. Board of Education, the “separate but equal” doctrine was overturned, thus making it unlawful for public schools to discriminate on the basis of race.
The Educational Opportunities Section of the Civil Rights Division has pursued legal actions against unlawful racial discrimination against students for many years after that ruling, frequently securing court-monitored consent decrees with those schools. A number of those consent decrees have stayed in place for decades, tracing back to the 1960s and 1970s.
What Happens Next
The Justice Department said on Thursday it is undertaking a “case-by-case review” of all pending desegregation cases that were filed in the 1960s and 1970s. After concluding that a school district has achieved unitary status — meaning it had eliminated the vestiges of Jim Crow-era racial segregation and no longer needed further federal monitoring — the department will seek dismissal of the case.
An archived press release indicates that as of May 2022, the Justice Department continued to represent the federal government in some 140 school desegregation cases. However, since last year, the department has filed motions asking courts to dismiss desegregation cases in several school districts.
Critics Push Back
CBS News reported that Kristen Clarke, who previously served as the assistant attorney general of the Civil Rights Division, is currently the general counsel at the NAACP, and she said: “This administration’s relentless campaign to dismantle work done to end racial segregation in our nation’s public schools is a stain on our democracy.”
“Brown vs. Board of Education stands as the singularly most important decision ever issued by the Supreme Court and it has taken continued partnership between the government and school districts to keep school systems on track. Carefully-negotiated consent decrees provide important protections for children today who face discrimination and barriers,” Clarke said.
“No doubt, this Justice Department’s actions threaten to fuel resegregation and discrimination in public schools, to the peril of all of our children.”
Regan Rush, director of the Red Line for Civil Rights project at Democracy Forward, argued the Civil Rights Division “has walked away from enforcement work it spent decades building.”
Since Dhillon arrived last year, she has largely overhauled the Civil Rights Division by declining to pursue or dismissing the kinds of race-related discrimination cases that had historically defined its work. More than 75% of the division’s staff have resigned or retired early, according to previous reporting by CBS News.
The division under Dhillon has followed President Trump’s policy directives closely. It has opened investigations into university policies on diversity, equity and inclusion. It has also brought lawsuits to keep transgender athletes from playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams. Furthermore, it has taken legal action against dozens of states in pursuit of unredacted copies of their voter registration lists.
Federal power to enforce civil rights is what the dispute concerns. The Justice Department contends the consent decrees have grown outdated and no longer match classroom reality. Clarke and others warn the move could threaten re-segregation and discrimination in public schools.
The Justice Department is working to end dozens of school desegregation agreements across the country. The agency has identified over 50 consent decrees for dismissal. These decrees date back to the 1960s and 1970s, and cover districts in Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia and Connecticut. As of May 2022, the department still represented some 140 school desegregation cases. More than 75% of the division’s staff have resigned or retired early.
Source material: “DOJ says it's moving to end more than 50 decades-old school desegregation cases,” CBS News.
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