United States v. Texas Education Agency

138 F.R.D. 503, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17119, 1991 WL 159286
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedJune 11, 1991
DocketCiv. A. No. CA-5-806
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 138 F.R.D. 503 (United States v. Texas Education Agency) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Texas Education Agency, 138 F.R.D. 503, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17119, 1991 WL 159286 (N.D. Tex. 1991).

Opinion

ORDER

WOODWARD, Senior District Judge.

The above entitled action concerning segregation in the public school system of the Lubbock Independent School District (LISD) was first filed by the Department of Justice against the LISD and its trustees in August of 1970. When the LISD is referred to herein as defendant, such term will include all of the defendants who have been named as the present trustees as well as their predecessors in office, all in their official capacity.

Before the Court at this time is a motion by LISD to modify the attendance and boundary zones of various schools in the district and to consider changes in the magnet program; a motion of certain individuals to intervene in opposition to LISD’s proposed modification and a motion by defendants to dismiss the proposed “Claim for Which Intervention is Sought.”

Those seeking to intervene have varying interests which allow them standing to file their motion to intervene, such interest being set forth in detail in the Magistrate Judge’s “Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations.”

The motion by the Proposed Intervenors was referred to a Magistrate Judge with authority to conduct a hearing and file findings, conclusions and recommendations with this Court on the motion to intervene. The Magistrate Judge has filed this report and the parties have filed objections and arguments and briefs in support of and in [505]*505opposition to the requested intervention. The record of the hearing before the Magistrate Judge was transcribed into three volumes consisting of 449 pages.

This Court has read and carefully considered the transcript of the hearing as well as all of the submissions of the parties. Based upon the Magistrate Judge’s findings, he concluded that the motion to intervene should be denied and so recommended to this Court.

After independently considering the pleadings of the parties, the transcript of the hearing before the Magistrate Judge, and the briefs and argument of all counsel 1, the Court is of the opinion that this Order should be entered adopting and finding as correct each of the findings and conclusions of the Magistrate Judge, and they are here adopted as the findings and conclusions of this Court.

Having considered the objections to the findings and conclusions of the Magistrate Judge, the Court is of the opinion and finds that such objections are without merit and not supported by the record in this case. ACCORDINGLY, the objections by the Proposed Intervenors to the Magistrate Judge’s rulings are OVERRULED AND DENIED.

As indicated, this case was originally filed over 20 years ago and the United States of America, through the Department of Justice, has remained the Plaintiff in the case and the LISD and the various individual trustees and their successors, in their official capacity, have remained as the Defendants. In addition, the Texas Education Agency was originally named as one of the parties and still remains in the case and has participated in the proceedings concerning the proposed intervention.

When this suit was originally filed, it was alleged that the LISD was operating a dual school system which discriminated against minority students. The Brief in Support of the Motion to Intervene sets forth in fairly accurate detail the history of this litigation which has lead to the point where we are today.2

By Order of May 2,1988, based upon the Consent Decrees entered in this case and an Agreed Record, the operation of LISD was found and declared to be in accordance with the laws and constitutional requirements and was declared to no longer be a dual system, with the Court retaining jurisdiction for a period of not less than three years. At the conclusion of this three year period, opportunity would be given to show cause why the case should not be dismissed and the injunctions dissolved.

The LISD has now designated the site for the new junior high school to be built pursuant to the Consent Decree of March 2, 1988; however, instead of filing its proposed modification plan as it affects only the junior high schools brought about by the building of the new junior high school, the LISD now seeks to make numerous modifications to the existing desegregation plan. It is this proposed modification which prompted the Proposed Intervenors to file their Motion to Intervene, along with their proposed complaint in intervention, designated as their “Claim for Which Intervention is Sought.”3

The Proposed Intervenors seek to intervene, claiming basically that (1) the LISD has violated prior Orders by failing to implement prior desegregation plans; (2) the proposed plan is “inadequate, discriminatory and resegregative; and (8) the injunctions in effect should not be dissolved.

The Proposed Intervenors seek intervention pursuant to both Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(a) (intervention as a matter of right) and 24(b) (permissive intervention).

The Magistrate Judge’s “Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations,” which are adopted herein by reference and made find[506]*506ings and conclusions of this Court, set forth the requirements for intervention of right4 and adequately discusses the first three requirements. Because this Court finds that the Proposed Intervenors have failed to overcome the fourth test for intervention of right, i.e. inadequate representation by the Government of the Proposed Intervenors' rights and interests, it is not necessary to discuss the other three requirements, which have been fully discussed by the Magistrate Judge.

The Fifth Circuit in Bush v. Viterna, 740 F.2d 350, 354 (5th Cir.1984), found that:

“If a would-be intervenor fails to meet any one of these requirements then it cannot intervene as a matter or right”.

The test in the Fifth Circuit is that “when the party seeking intervention has the same ultimate objective as a party to the suit, a presumption arises that its interests are adequately represented, against which the petitioner must demonstrate adversity of interest, collusion, or nonfeasance.” Bush, 740 F.2d at 355. See also Kneeland v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass’n, 806 F.2d 1285, 1287 (5th Cir.1987) cert. denied 484 U.S. 817, 108 S.Ct. 72, 98 L.Ed.2d 35 (1987). Therefore, the Proposed Intervenors must show an adversity of interest on the part of the Government, collusion between the Government and the LISD, or nonfeasance on the part of the Government. This the proposed intervenors have failed to do.

Fifth Circuit precedent establishes that “the inquiry under subsection (a)(2) is a flexible one, which focuses on the particular facts and circumstances surrounding each application ... [and] intervention of right must be measured by a practical rather than technical yardstick.” U.S. v. Texas Eastern Transmission Corp., 923 F.2d 410, 413 (5th Cir.1991) citing United States v. Allegheny-Ludlum Indus., Inc., 517 F.2d 826, 841 (5th Cir.1975), cert. denied. 425 U.S. 944, 96 S.Ct. 1684, 48 L.Ed.2d 187 (1976).

Insofar as adversity of interest, the Proposed Intervenors have admitted that their ultimate goal is a desegregated school system. That also is the ultimate goal of the Government.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
138 F.R.D. 503, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17119, 1991 WL 159286, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-texas-education-agency-txnd-1991.