Jeremy Hurd

School Law

Case Review #3

3-8-04

 

I.  Origins

 

A.       Name, location, and date of the case.

The name of the case is COOPER v. AARON, 358 U.S. 1 (1958).  The location of the case originally began in District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas and was then appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.  This particular case reached the United States Supreme Court in September of 1958, which is outlined in this case review.

 

B.       Level of Court that issued the decision.

The Supreme Court of the Unites States upheld a decision given by the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.  The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit overturned the original decision given by the District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

 

C.       Level of control of the school over the conditions of the case.

The level of control over the conditions of the case for the school was very clear in this particular case.  Due to a court mandate, the Little Rock School District were ordered to desegregate their schools.  This caused severe tensions and caused a negative learning environment for the students.  The school district seeked exemption from segregating their schools and asked for a court order that would allow them to segregate schools again.  This was a challenge upon a state statute by the school district.

 

II.    Analysis of Conditions

 

A.      What area of school law does this case relate to or involve.  How?

The area of school law that this case involves is the area of segregation of schools and a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  The school district under state law had required all schools to desegregate during the 1957-1958 school year.  Due to potential violence, the school district asked for exemption after desegregating the schools ended up in a decline in the educational process for the students and their learning.  However, due to Brown V Board of Education decision, this was declared illegal. The violation of the Equal Protection Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment came as a result of the school board wanting exemption from desegregating their schools.

 

B.        What are the major arguments for the plaintiffs?

 

 With a considerable amount of opposition to desegregation by the Arkansas Legislature and the Governor that there is no duty on state officials to obey federal court orders resting on this Court's considered interpretation of the United States Constitution. Specifically it involves actions by the Governor and Legislature of Arkansas upon the premise that they are not bound by the holding in Brown v. Board of Education.  They also claim that due to threats of mob violence, students in this case were unable to attend the school until troops were sent to maintain control by the Federal Government for their protection.  However, the students attended the school for the remainder of that school year. Finding that these events had resulted in tensions and turmoil in the school, the plaintiffs claimed that these tensions resulted in a disruption in the educational process.  The District Court granted petitioners' request that operation of their plan of desegregation be suspended for two and one-half years, and that respondents be sent back to segregated schools.  The plaintiffs claimed that due to the education disruptions within the school, that their petition to the district court should be upheld.

 

C.       What are the major arguments for the defendants?

 

The defendants in the suit claimed that the Governor and Legislature of the State of Arkansas had no justifiable claim that there is no duty on state officials to obey federal court orders resting on this Court's considered interpretation of the United States Constitution in Brown v. Board of Education.  The also rejected the claim that the court should uphold a suspension of the Little Rock School Board's plan to do away with segregated public schools in Little Rock until state laws and efforts to upset and nullify its holding in the Brown case have been further challenged and tested in the courts.  The also claimed that the constitutional rights of the students should not be sacrificed to the violence and disorder which have followed upon the actions of the Governor and Legislature, and that law and order were not there to be preserved by depriving the Negro children of their constitutional rights based upon the rulings in the Brown v Board of Education decision by the US Supreme Court.  Lastly, they claimed that the interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment by the Brown case is the supreme law of the land, and Art. VI of the Constitution makes it of binding effect on the States "any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

 

 

D.        What was the decision made in this case?

 

The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.  The Supreme Court stated that the US Constitution created a government dedicated to equal justice under law and that the Fourteenth Amendment embodied that ideal. They also claimed that the right of a student not to be segregated on racial grounds in schools is so fundamental and pervasive that it is embraced in the concept of due process of law.  The court also stood by its decision in the Brown v Board of Education case and claimed that the principles announced in that decision and the obedience of the States to them, according to the command of the Constitution are indispensable.

 

 

III.                      Personal Reaction

 

A.      What is your personal reaction to the decision made in this case?

 

Looking at the impact of this case now upon our educational system, I think that the court made the right decision.  Even though there was violence and tension within the school, it was not appropriate for the Governor or State Legislature to believe that they were above the law of the land and the Unites States Constitution.  The rights of individuals under the Fourteenth Amendment and Equal Protection Clause are fundamental in our American philosophies.  Without these rights, blacks and other minorities would not be treated on the same playing field as whites.  Slavery and inappropriate classification of people due to skin color would prevail and the decency of humanity that each individual born in the Unites States most rightly deserves would be taken away.  I take a humanistic view regarding this situation and now, our schools are a melting pot of cultures, races, religions, and many other differences that society has now embraced as a common place in American culture.  I do not think that the courts decisions during that time would have realized the positive impact that this ruling and others has made in our society and in the lives of all Americans.

 

B.        What are the implications of this case for you as a future school

administrator?

 

The impact on myself as an administrator now is not as great as it would have been back in the late 50’s.  Today, segregation is an afterthought and the idea of doing so would bring a great amount of political attention and a lot of racial minority groups lobbying against such behavior.  It is understood that the Fourteenth Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause are the law of the land, and in today’s society, those laws are complied with.  Segregation in schools is not an issue today.  One of the issues that may come up is the segregation in schools due to gender.  I think that this will become an issue of great importance in the future.  You may also be looking at the same issue in sports and possibly in College Institutions who are known for being segregated colleges.