Edgar v. United States
Headline: Court refuses to pause Texas desegregation order, keeping mandates to eliminate school segregation in effect and requiring state education officials to act without delay.
Holding:
- State must implement measures to eliminate school racial segregation without delay.
- Texas agencies must enforce transfers, boundary changes, and staff assignments to end segregation.
- Does not pause the lower-court order while the Supreme Court considers review.
Summary
Background
The Commissioner of Education of Texas and the Texas Education Agency asked a Justice of this Court to pause a lower-court order that requires them to remove remaining racial segregation from public schools. The United States had sued the State on March 6, 1970, under the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment. A federal district court issued a detailed April 20, 1971 order directing statewide steps on transfers, boundaries, transportation, activities, faculty practices, student assignments, curricula, and compensatory education. The Fifth Circuit affirmed that order.
Reasoning
The narrow question was whether to suspend the district court’s desegregation order while the State sought review. Writing as Circuit Justice, Mr. Justice Black refused the stay. He concluded the district court’s findings were well reasoned and not materially disputed, and that delaying enforcement would unjustifiably postpone eliminating the dual school system. He also noted it was unlikely that four Justices would vote to hear and overturn the order, so he left the final decision to the full Court if and when review is properly sought.
Real world impact
The denial of the stay keeps the district court’s remedial steps in force immediately, so Texas education officials must act to end segregated practices across many school operations. This ruling is not a final Supreme Court decision on the merits; the full Court may later review the case and could change the outcome.
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