Aaron v. Cooper
Headline: Little Rock school desegregation orders upheld: Court affirms appeals court and reinstates district court rulings, allowing the school board’s integration plan for Central High School to take effect immediately.
Holding:
- Reinstates orders enforcing desegregation at Central High School, allowing integration to proceed.
- Makes the judgment effective immediately and ends the appeals court’s stay.
- Directs that the ruling be sent to the District Court to enforce orders.
Summary
Background
A dispute arose over whether the local school board’s plan to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, should be enforced before the new school year. The District Court and the Court of Appeals issued differing rulings at different times; earlier district court orders had enforced the board’s plan in line with Brown v. Board of Education. With the new school year imminent, the case reached the Court for a prompt decision.
Reasoning
The Court unanimously considered the briefs and oral arguments and concluded that the judgment of the Court of Appeals dated August 18, 1958, must be affirmed. By affirming that judgment, the Court ordered that earlier district court judgments dated August 28, 1956, and September 3, 1957, which enforced the school board’s desegregation plan under Brown v. Board, be reinstated. The Court also held that a stay issued by the Court of Appeals is no longer effective. The full written explanation of the reasons supporting this judgment will be prepared and announced later.
Real world impact
The ruling makes the reinstated district court orders effective immediately and directs that the decision be communicated to the District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. In practical terms, the school board’s plan to desegregate Central High School may move forward at the start of the school year. Because the Court said a fuller opinion will follow, the detailed legal reasoning will be provided later, but the immediate effect is that enforcement of the desegregation plan will proceed now.
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