Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver
Keyes v. School District No. 1 | |
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Holding | |
A prima facie case of unlawful segregative design on the part of school authorities places to those authorities the burden of proving that other segregated schools within the system were not also the result of intentionally segregative actions. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Brennan, joined by Douglas, Stewart, Marshall, Blackmun |
Concurrence | Burger (in result) |
Concurrence | Douglas |
Concur/dissent | Powell |
Dissent | Rehnquist |
White took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amend. XIV |
Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver, 413 U.S. 189 (1973), was a
Background
After the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in both
However, in one school district located in Denver, Colorado, there had been evidence of de facto school segregation almost 15 years after the Brown ruling.[citation needed] The Denver school district was accused of maintaining this de facto segregation by means of attendance zones, optional zones, and mobile classroom units in the Park Hill neighborhood.[3] But in April 1969, a plan was put forth by the superintendent of the school board to begin desegregating public schools in the Denver Area by means of integrated busing.[citation needed]
However, two months later after these plans were introduced, a new superintendent was voted in to power over the incumbent. The new superintendent cancelled the previous integration plan all together.[citation needed]
Less than two weeks later, a group of parents brought suit against the Denver School District, alleging that the entirety of the Denver school system was guilty of racial segregation and was therefore in violation of their 14th Amendment right to Equal Protection of the laws.[4] The defending party rejected this claim, asserting that even if it was true that the Denver School District was guilty of racial segregation that did not mean that all other school districts in the Denver area were likewise guilty.
Holding
Writing for the majority, Justice William Brennan ruled against the Denver School District authority and held that "where, as in this case, a policy of intentional segregation has been proved with respect to a significant portion of the school system, the burden is on the school authorities (regardless of claims that their 'neighborhood school policy' was racially neutral) to prove that their actions as to other segregated schools in the system were not likewise motivated by a segregative intent."[1] Thus, the evidence of segregation in the Denver School District was determined to be of such significance that it implicated the entire Denver school system as a result.
In relation to the fact that much of the segregation at question was a result of a de facto nature for ten years, the Majority also held that, "if the actions of school authorities were to any degree motivated by segregative intent and the segregation resulting from those actions continues to exist, the fact of remoteness in time certainly does not make those actions any less 'intentional'."[1]
References
- ^ a b c Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver, 413 U.S. 189 (1973).
- ^ "Brown v. Board of Education - Black History - HISTORY.com". HISTORY.com. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
- ^ "Keyes v. School District No. 1". www.quimbee.com. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ "Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver, Colorado - Case Brief". Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver, Colorado - Case Brief. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
External links
- Text of Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver, 413 U.S. 189 (1973) is available from: Cornell Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)