Brookins v. South Bend Community School Corp.

95 F.R.D. 407, 6 Educ. L. Rep. 1001, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16208
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedSeptember 22, 1982
DocketNos. S 81-313, S 80-35
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 95 F.R.D. 407 (Brookins v. South Bend Community School Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brookins v. South Bend Community School Corp., 95 F.R.D. 407, 6 Educ. L. Rep. 1001, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16208 (N.D. Ind. 1982).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SHARP, Chief Judge.

On September 8, 1981, a class action was filed by Mary Laura Brookins and others (Brookins class) against the defendants alleging that the Desegregation Plan approved by this Court on April 17, 1981 in United States of America v. South Bend Community School Corporation et al, 511 F.Supp. 1352, violates the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the State of Indiana. On October 9,1981, the defendants filed a motion requesting that this case be consolidated with United States of America v. South Bend Community School Corporation, supra. By order dated October 13, 1981, the defendants’ motion was granted and the amended complaint was thereafter to be treated as a petition to intervene under Rule 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

I.

In February 1980, the United States filed an action under Section 407 of Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000c-6, and Section 207 of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1706, against the South Bend Community School Corporation, its superintendent, its board of school trustees and the seven members thereof alleging that defendants had engaged in various acts of discrimination with the intent and effect of segregating students and faculty on the basis of race in the South Bend, Indiana public school system. The government sought an injunction prohibiting defendants from discriminating on the basis of race or color in operating the schools within the territory served by the South Bend Community School Corporation and requiring defendants to develop and implement a desegregation plan which would remove all vestiges of prior discrimination.

The district court simultaneously entered a consent order submitted by the parties, requiring defendants to develop and implement a desegregation plan for student assignments by the beginning of 1981-1982 school year. The crux of the plan was to provide that black students in each school would be within 15% of the total percentage of black students in the school system. The plan was also to insure that student transportation or school closings would fall equitably on all racial groups.

The school board enlisted community support for the development of the new student assignment plan. A Citizen’s Advisory Committee was formed and over 300 citizens volunteered to serve on subcommittees. Subcommittees met over 150 times between February and December 1980 and nearly 200 people actively participated in the meetings. All meetings were open to the public and were given extensive newspaper publicity. The subcommittees’ recommendations were subsequently reported to the school board by the Citizen’s Advisory Committee.

During the fall of 1980, the school board’s planning team formulated a number of alternative desegregation plans and decided on a recommended plan in late November. On December 17, 1980, the details of the proposed plan were released and the school board held twelve special meetings during the months of December 1980 through February 1981 devoted solely to the plan. All citizens were invited to speak at the meetings and were encouraged to submit written comments.

[409]*409The Board of School Trustees passed a resolution adopting a school desegregation plan for student assignment during a meeting on February 26-27,1981. On February 27, 1981, the parties submitted a proposed consent order to this Court incorporating the plan. The plan was subsequently revised and resubmitted to this Court on April 3, 1981. The Court adopted the plan on April 17, 1981, and the plan went into effect at the commencement of the school year in September 1981. On September 6, 1981, applicants for intervention filed this action challenging certain aspects of the desegregation plan approved by this Court and implemented by the South Bend Community School Corporation. Applicants for intervention specifically challenged the choices made by the school board regarding which schools were to be closed and what grade structures and/or programs were offered at schools which remained open on the grounds that the plan was unwise, irrational, unconstitutional and in violation of the laws of the State of Indiana.

II.

The criteria for intervention as a matter of right under Rule 24(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and with permission of the Court under Rule 24(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are well established. To qualify for intervention as of right under Rule 24(a)(2), an applicant must meet each of four conditions:

(1) The application must be timely.
(2) The applicant must claim an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action.
(3) The applicant must be so situated that the disposition of the action may as a' practical matter impair or imped'e his ability to protect that interest.
(4) The applicant’s interest is or was not adequately represented by existing parties.

Central States, etc. v. Old Security Life Insurance Company, 600 F.2d 671 (7th Cir. 1979). See also, NAACPC v. New York, 413 U.S. 345, 93 S.Ct. 2591, 37 L.Ed.2d 648 (1973); United Airlines, Inc. v. McDonald, 432 U.S. 385, 97 S.Ct. 2464, 53 L.Ed.2d 423 (1977); United States v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago, 88 F.R.D. 679 (N.D.Ill.1981). Failure to meet any one of the conditions is sufficient to deny intervention as a matter of right. NAACP v. New York, 413 U.S. at 369, 93 S.Ct. at 2604-2605; United States v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago, 88 F.R.D. at 684. The parties to the original action oppose the application for intervention of the Brookins class on the grounds that (1) the Brookins class is adequately represented by the existing parties, and (2) that the application for intervention is untimely.

This Court is bound by the standard set by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals to measure the adequacy of representation in school desegregation cases. United States v. Board of School Commissioners of the City of Indianapolis, 466 F.2d 573 (7th Cir. 1972), cert. den., 410 U.S. 909, 93 S.Ct. 964, 35 L.Ed.2d 271 (1973); see United States v. South Bend Community School Corporation, 511 F.Supp. 1352, 1357 (N.D. Ind.1981), aff’d, 692 F.2d 623 (7th Cir. 1982). See also, United States v.

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95 F.R.D. 407, 6 Educ. L. Rep. 1001, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16208, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brookins-v-south-bend-community-school-corp-innd-1982.