Edgerson ex rel. Edgerson v. Clinton

86 F.3d 833
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJune 21, 1996
DocketNos. 95-2347, 95-2667
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 86 F.3d 833 (Edgerson ex rel. Edgerson v. Clinton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Edgerson ex rel. Edgerson v. Clinton, 86 F.3d 833 (8th Cir. 1996).

Opinion

FAGG, Circuit Judge.

Catherine Edgerson and her three school-aged children, residents of the Gould School District in Lincoln County, Arkansas, brought this lawsuit against the Gould School District; the neighboring Grady, Star City, and Dumas School Districts; the Lincoln County School Board; and various state officials responsible for the Arkansas public education system. Edgerson asserted the defendants intentionally caused the school districts to become racially segregated, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, and 2000d. See Brown v. Board of Educ., 347 U.S. 483, 495, 74 S.Ct. 686, 692, 98 L.Ed. 873 (1954). As a remedy, Edgerson requested consolidation of some of the districts, or the creation of magnet schools and other programs to improve the racial balance among the districts and eliminate racial disparities. Each defendant filed cross-claims asserting that if segregation had occurred, the other defendants were to blame. Following a bench trial, the district court entered judgment for the defendants on Edgerson’s claim, and dismissed the cross-claims. Edgerson appeals, and the Grady School District appeals the dismissal of its cross-claims. We affirm.

As an initial matter, we deny the Dumas School District’s motion seeking dismissal from this appeal. Contrary to Dumas’s view, Edgerson’s failure to name Dumas as an appellee in her notice of appeal did not violate Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 3(c). Thomas v. Gunter, 32 F.3d 1258, 1262 (8th Cir.1994). Finding no procedural error, we turn to the merits.

Most of the relevant facts are undisputed. During the first half of this century, each school district in this appeal operated one school system for white students and a separate school system for black students, as Arkansas law required. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 80-509(c) (1980) (repealed 1983). After the United States Supreme Court rejected the “separate but equal” doctrine in 1954, see Brown v. Board of Educ., 347 U.S. at 495, 74 S.Ct. at 692, the State of Arkansas actively opposed desegregation and delayed the elimination of the dual school system for many years. The school districts finally merged their black and white schools during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Since then, the Gould and Grady districts have had a large majority of black students. The Dumas district is also predominantly black, but to a lesser extent than Gould or Grady, and Star City is a mostly white district.

Arkansas has several laws that allow students to attend school outside the districts where they reside. One of the laws, known as the Sibling Act, was passed in 1983. The Sibling Act permits students who were attending school outside their resident district during the 1982-83 or 1983-84 school years, and all of the students’ current or future [836]*836siblings, to continue attending the same school. Ark.Code Ann. § 6-18-205(a)(l) (Michie 1993). Arkansas also has a statute that permits students to transfer from their resident school district to a different district with the consent of both districts and the county school board (the transfer statute). Id. § 6-18-316. In 1987, the Arkansas Legislature limited the use of the transfer statute by prohibiting transfers that adversely affect the racial balance in a school district that is or has been under a court desegregation order. Id. § 6-18-317. Both Gould and Grady have been subject to desegregation orders in the past. Raney v. Board of Educ., 391 U.S. 443, 447-48, 88 S.Ct. 1697, 1699-1700, 20 L.Ed.2d 727 (1968) (Gould); Car-than v. Board of Educ., No. PB 68-C-35 (E.D. Ark. filed Apr. 20, 1971) (unpublished consent decree) (Grady).

Before the 1987 restriction on transfers, all four school districts and the Lincoln County Board of Education routinely granted transfer applications. Between 1971 and 1985, 84 students transferred from Grady to Star City; 27 students transferred from Gould to Star City; and 100 transferred from Gould to Dumas. Over 90% of the transferring students were white. Gould and Grady stopped granting transfers in 1987. The State Board of Education later asked Gould and Grady to review the transfers granted in earlier years because the transfers might have upset the districts’ racial balance. In response, Gould and Grady revoked all transfers effective 1991. For reasons that are disputed, not all of the transfer students from Grady returned to the Grady schools. In addition to the transfers, students covered by the Sibling Act have attended school outside their resident districts as a matter of right, usually without leaving any record that they were attending under the Sibling Act.

From the 1979-80 school year to the 1991-92 school year, the student population of Gould dwindled from 495 students to 357. The racial composition of the school system changed from 80% black and 20% white to about 97% black and 3% white. Grady’s total enrollment dropped from 540 to 360 students over the same period, and the racial composition changed from 76% black and 24% white to about 87% black and 13% white. The change in the black-white student ratio can be attributed in part to transfers of white students. Also, some white families moved out of the Gould and Grady districts during this period. The loss in student enrollment caused a loss of state education funds. In fact, the Gould and Grady districts are barely financially viable, and state evaluations of the school districts show student academic achievement is markedly lower in the Gould and Grady districts than in Star City and Dumas.

Based on these facts, Edgerson contends the Lincoln County schools have become re-segregated and the community perceives Gould and Grady as “black districts” neighbored by much “whiter” districts, Star City and Dumas. See United States v. Lowndes County Bd. of Educ., 878 F.2d 1301, 1305 (11th Cir.1989). Edgerson claims the state officials and school districts promoted resegregation by permitting or encouraging white students from the Gould and Grady districts to attend the Star City or Dumas schools under the transfer statute and the Sibling Act. Edgerson also contends the Star City district encouraged resegregation by discriminating against black students, and state officials failed to remedy county-wide racial disparities and the serious educational deficiencies at the Gould and Grady schools.

The parties agree on the applicable law. Brown v. Board of Education established that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities [based on race] are inherently unequal.” 347 U.S. at 495, 74 S.Ct. at 692. Accordingly, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause prohibits states from mandating or deliberately maintaining segregated schools. Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717, 737, 94 S.Ct. 3112, 3123, 41 L.Ed.2d 1069 (1974).

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Catherine Edgerson, on Behalf of Joe N. Edgerson, Jr., Hazel R. Edgerson and Jarred J. Edgerson Jarred J. Edgerson Hazel R. Edgerson Joe N. Edgerson, Jr. v. Bill Clinton, Governor of the State of Arkansas, Individually Burton Elliott, Director of the Arkansas State Department of Education, Individually Rae Rice Perry, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually James McLarty Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually L.D. Harris, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually Richard Smith, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually Elaine Scott, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually Walter Turnbow, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually Nancy Wood, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually Star City Arkansas School District No. 11, Board of Education Gould Arkansas School District, Board of Education, a Public Body Corporate Grady Arkansas School District, Board of Education, a Public Body Corporate Dumas Arkansas School District, Board of Education, a Public Body Corporate Lincoln County, Board of Education, a Public Body Corporate, Catherine Edgerson, on Behalf of Joe N. Edgerson, Jr., Hazel R. Edgerson and Jarred J. Edgerson Jarred J. Edgerson Hazel R. Edgerson Joe N. Edgerson, Jr. v. Bill Clinton, Governor of the State of Arkansas, Individually Burton Elliott, Director of the Arkansas State Department of Education, Individually Rae Rice Perry, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually James McLarty Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually L.D. Harris, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually Richard Smith, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually Elaine Scott, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually Walter Turnbow, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually Nancy Wood, Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education, Individually Star City Arkansas School District No. 11 Board of Education Gould Arkansas School District Board of Education, a Public Body Corporate Grady Arkansas School District Board of Education, a Public Body Corporate Dumas Arkansas School District Board of Education, a Public Body Corporate Lincoln County Board of Education, a Public Body Corporate
86 F.3d 833 (Eighth Circuit, 1996)

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86 F.3d 833, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edgerson-ex-rel-edgerson-v-clinton-ca8-1996.