Case: Graham v. Evangeline Parish School Board

On May 4, 1965, five African-American children attending public schools filed this suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. The plaintiffs sued the Evangeline Parish School Board to enjoin the operation of a racially segregated school system in Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. This case has a lengthy history involving consolidations, appeals, and court supervision that lasted until 2012.

Original Desegregation Process

On June 4, 1965, the district court (Judge Richard Johnson Putnam) ordered the School Board to submit a desegregation plan within thirty days. The School Board submitted and the district court approved a “freedom of choice” plan that would desegregate the 1st and 12th grades by September 1965 and the rest of the grades by September 1968. However, the Fifth Circuit ruled that same month that these slowly phased integration plans were inadequate in Singleton v. Jackson Municipal Separate School District, 355 F.2d 865 (1965). Singleton precipitated a district court hearing about whether the desegregation plan was adequate. The hearing was consolidated with other cases raising similar issues. In an opinion issued on August 13 in the consolidated cases, Judge Putnam decided that at least four grades must be immediately desegregated. Trahan v. Lafayette Parish School Board, 244 F. Supp. 583 (1965). On August 23, Judge Putnam determined that Evangeline Parish’s grades 2 and 11 (in addition to 1 and 12) must be desegregated in 1965.

Over the next few years, the Parish implemented parts of the limited desegregation plan. Unhappy with the results, the plaintiffs asked for additional relief on December 11, 1967, which the court denied, and the plaintiffs appealed. The appeal was consolidated with several other appeals of similar phased integration plans adopted by judges in the Western District of Louisiana. In 1969, the Fifth Circuit decided the consolidated appeals by ruling that “freedom of choice” plans were wholly inadequate. Hall v. St. Helena Parish School Board, 417 F.2d 801 (1969). For more details on the procedural history of the consolidated cases that led to Hall, of which this case was a part, please see this page on the Clearinghouse.

The Fifth Circuit’s opinion required the district court to adopt a new desegregation plan, but the parties disputed who should create it. Eventually, the court adopted a plan designed by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare on August 5, 1969.

Before the Evangeline Parish schools could open in September 1969, 115 white residents sued in state court to enjoin the implementation of the desegregation order. While the schools opened on September 2, 1969, they did so with only 20% student attendance, with many white students refusing to attend desegregated public schools. On the night of September 2, 1969, the School Board passed a resolution closing all schools indefinitely. The district court responded by issuing a temporary restraining order on September 9, 1969, forcing the School Board to re-open the schools. The district court issued a permanent injunction to force the School Board to keep the schools open so as not to frustrate the implementation of the desegregation plan.

In 1971, the United States intervened as a plaintiff.

Enforcement Process

The Fifth Circuit had to intervene again in December of 1974 after the district court (Judge Nauman S. Scott) allowed the School Board to provide support for the Evangeline Academy, a private school set up for whites who wanted to avoid the desegregation orders. The Fifth Circuit enjoined the School Board from providing textbooks, transportation or any other public aid to Evangeline Academy. 484 F.2d 649.

The School Board and the plaintiffs have had several other disputes since the mid-1970s. The district court issued consent decrees in 1998 and 2001, pushing the School Board to correct long-standing racial disparities. In September 2003, the National Association of Neighborhood Schools (“NANS”), an organization whose mission is to terminate all federal school desegregation cases, filed a motion to intervene that was denied by the district court. 223 F.R.D. 407. The Fifth Circuit upheld the district court's decision. 132 F. App'x 507.

On November 4, 2004 the district court granted a motion authorizing the School Board to begin school constructions and renovations on a local high school. In 2006, the School Board (with the consent of the Department of Justice), moved to amend the superseding consent decree of 2001. The 2006 order amended the 2001 consent decree to allow inter- and intra-district transfers that are approved by a Transfer Committee composed of three individuals; one of which was to be the Desegregation Compliance Officer, and the remaining two were to be employed at the building principle level or above.

In 2009, the School Board filed a motion to gain unitary status. The Department of Justice filed a motion opposing unitary status but, after the district court ordered settlement talks, the two sides agreed to unitary status on the issues of transportation, extracurricular activities and staff assignment.

On February 15, 2012, the School Board once again made a motion for declaration of unitary status. The Department of Justice did not object to the School Board’s motion for unitary status. On May 16, 2012, the district court granted the School Board’s motion, officially declaring the school system of Evangeline Parish to be unitary and dissolving the ongoing orders. 2012 WL 1833400. The case is now closed.

Available Opinions

Trahan v. Lafayette Parish School Bd., 244 F. Supp. 583 (W.D. La. 1965).

Hall v. St. Helena Parish School Bd., 417 F.2d 801 (5th Cir. 1969).

Jones v. Caddo Parish School Bd. 392 F.2d 721 (5th Cir. 1968).

Conley v. Lake Charles School Bd., 303 F. Supp. 394 (W.D. La. 1969).

Graham v. Evangeline Parish School Bd., 484 F.2d 649 (5th Cir. 1973).

Graham v. Evangeline Parish School Bd., 223 F.R.D. 407 (2004).

Graham v. Evangeline Parish School Bd., 132 F. App'x 507 (2005).

Graham v. Evangeline Parish School Bd., 2012 WL 1833400 (2012).