Case: McNeal v. Tate County School District

2:70-cv-00029 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi

Filed Date: April 27, 1970

Case Ongoing

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Case Summary

This is a school desegregation case arising out of Tate County, Mississippi. Plaintiffs, black students and their families, filed this case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi on April 27, 1970. The plaintiffs sought a court order requiring that Tate County desegregate its public schools and achieve a unitary system. According to a later opinion, the district court approved a desegregation order on August 4, 1970.In the first 1970 complaint, filed on 4/27/1970, t…

In the first 1970 complaint, filed on 4/27/1970, the plaintiffs alleged that Tate County sold one of its schools to the Tate Educational Foundation, Inc. for below market price in order to encourage the Foundation to create a private school "to avoid the impact of the desegregation of the schools." District Judge Orma Smith held that Tate County properly closed the school because it had outlived its usefulness and "the amount bid for the property was adequate and sufficient in law to sustain the sale." Judge Smith also noted that the Foundation and Tate County citizens were legally allowed to open a private school if they wanted to do so. No. EC7029–S, 1970 WL 118111 (N.D. Miss. Aug. 19, 1970). The plaintiffs then appealed.

The Fifth Circuit held that the sale of the school was valid, but that Tate County was enjoined from using the property to operate a private school that discriminated on the basis of race. Circuit Judge Lewis R. Morgan articulated that the private school using the former Tate County school property was completely segregated and that Tate County had an affirmative duty to take whatever steps necessary to create a unitary educational system, which includes looking into potential purchasers, when school property is sold in an area where it was typical for people to establish all-white private schools in response to court-ordered desegregation. Tate County "closed its eyes and made no inquiry" into whether the school property would be used to create an all-white private school. For this reason, the part of the district court decision allowing the sale of the school property was reversed and the case was remanded. 460 F.2d 568 (5th Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 93 S. Ct. 3049 (1973). The district court vacated its 1970 order in accordance with the Fifth Circuit's opinion and the defendants were charged with all litigation fees. No. DC 7029–S, 1972 WL 131658 (N.D. Miss. June 21, 1972).

In 1974, the plaintiffs submitted an application to the district court asking the court to find that Tate County was in violation of its 1970 desegregation order because it maintained segregated classrooms through its achievement grouping system. The district court dismissed the application. The order also amended the desegregation order's provisions regarding Tate County's services, facilities, activities, and programs. No. DC 70–29–S, 1974 WL 177573 (N.D. Miss. May 8, 1974). The plaintiffs appealed this decision.

In 1975, the Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's decision. The Fifth Circuit implemented a temporary bar on Tate County's achievement grouping because it resulted in racially segregated classrooms. Tate County would be permitted to lift the bar once it showed that there was a unitary school system and students that had educational disadvantages due to prior school segregation had been elevated to peer status. 508 F.2d 1017 (5th Cir. 1975).

The district court then approved a student assignment plan in line with the Fifth Circuit decision. Tate County created a committee in each of its elementary schools to review every student assignment. The committees had to ensure that every student assignment was based on the child's academic abilities (evaluated by each student's educational records) and not race. The district court highlighted that achievement grouping was still proper as long as it did not reflect students' race and both black and white Tate County citizens voiced support for achievement grouping in the schools. No. DC 70–29–S, 1975 WL 175356 (N.D. Miss. July 11, 1975).

From the mid-1970s through the 2010s, Tate County has filed annual reports with the district court updating the court on its progress to desegregate the schools. In 2010, according to a later district court opinion, Tate County filed a motion to redraw attendance zones created in the 1970 desegregation order. This motion was granted by District Judge W. Allen Pepper on September 28, 2010.

Tate County filed a motion to modify the attendance zone lines on April 1, 2016. In this motion, Tate County wanted the attendance zones to be modified so that one of the high schools in the district, Coldwater High School, would be closed and the students would be dispersed between the two other attendance zones. The plaintiffs responded with an omnibus motion that alleged Tate County had not been in compliance with the 1970 desegregation order for a variety of reasons. Tate County conceded, in a separate report, that it had not been including data about the number of teachers by race at each school and vowed to correct that wrong. Coldwater High School opened in August 2016 for the 2016-2017 school district, but the school had no athletic or extracurricular activities. The plaintiffs requested an injunction requiring that Tate County immediately resume athletic and extracurricular activities at Coldwater High School.

On December 7, 2016, District Judge Debra M. Brown (who was assigned the case on April 4, 2016) granted an injunction; she reasoned that cancelling athletic and extracurricular activities had the practical effect of making such activities unavailable to certain students based on their race because Coldwater High School was predominantly black and the availability of extracurriculars is one of six factors used to determine whether a school district has eliminated a dual system. Therefore, cancelling athletic and extracurricular activities "reduces desegregation or reinforces the existence of a dual system" and Tate County was ordered to immediately reinstate these activities at Coldwater High School. Judge Brown also found that Tate County was in civil contempt for cancelling athletic and extracurricular activities at Coldwater High School and for its reporting violations failing to report on the racial composition of Tate County school staff. The court awarded attorney's fees and costs to the plaintiffs to sanction Tate County. NO. 2:70-CV-00029-DMB, 2016 WL 7156554 (N.D. Miss. Dec. 7, 2016).

	Document
2:70-cv-00029	Original Docket	April 27, 1970	April 27, 1970 Docket
2:70-cv-00029	Docket	March 23, 2010	March 23, 2010 Docket
2:70-cv-00029	Memorandum Opinion	Aug. 19, 1970	Aug. 19, 1970 Order/Opinion 1970 WL 11811
30722	[Order] U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit	Sept. 17, 1971	Sept. 17, 1971 Order/Opinion 460 F.2d 568
2:70-cv-00029	Order With Injunction	June 21, 1972	June 21, 1972 Order/Opinion 1972 WL 131658
2:70-cv-00029	Order	May 8, 1974	May 8, 1974 Order/Opinion 1974 WL 177573
2:70-cv-00029	[Order] U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit	Feb. 12, 1975	Feb. 12, 1975 Order/Opinion 508 F.2d 1017
2:70-cv-00029	Memorandum of Decision	July 11, 1975	July 11, 1975 Order/Opinion 1975 WL 175356
7 2:70-cv-00029	Report	March 5, 2013	March 5, 2013 Monitor/Expert/Receiver Report
2:70-cv-00029	Memorandum Opinion and Order	Nov. 10, 2016	Nov. 10, 2016 Order/Opinion 2016 WL 6651328

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
1	Docket sheet in School Desegregation case #DC7029-S, from case original filing of case on 4/27/70 to present (jtm)	March 23, 2010	March 23, 2010
2	MOTION to Amend/Correct Order by Tate County School District. (Lamar, John)	Aug. 9, 2010	Aug. 9, 2010
3	MOTION to Amend/Correct Order by Tate County School District. (Lamar, John)	Aug. 10, 2010	Aug. 10, 2010
	NOTICE OF CORRECTION re 2 MOTION to Amend/Correct Order: document to be refiled right-side-up (jtm)	Aug. 10, 2010	Aug. 10, 2010
	Case Reassigned to Judge W. Allen Pepper. (jtm)	Sept. 3, 2010	Sept. 3, 2010
4	ORDER re 3 Motion to Amend/Correct. Signed by W. Allen Pepper on 9/28/10. (jtm)	Sept. 28, 2010	Sept. 28, 2010
5	NOTICE OF RECEIPT of Report to the Court, by John Thomas Lamar on behalf of Tate County School District (Attachments: # 1 Report Continued) (tab, USDC)	Oct. 19, 2010	Oct. 19, 2010
6	ANNUAL REPORT by John Thomas Lamar, Jr on behalf of Tate County School District (tab) (Entered: 02/16/2012)	Feb. 15, 2012	Feb. 15, 2012
7	REPORT TO THE COURT by John Thomas Lamar, Jr on behalf of Tate County School District (jtm) (Entered: 03/12/2013)	March 8, 2013	March 8, 2013
8	REPORT TO THE COURT by John Thomas Lamar, Jr on behalf of Tate County School District (tab)	July 15, 2014	July 15, 2014
10	NOTICE of Filing Report to the Court for 2014-2015 by John Thomas Lamar, Jr on behalf of Tate County School District (jtm) (Entered: 03/01/2016)	Feb. 29, 2016	Feb. 29, 2016
9	NOTICE of Filing Report to the Court for 2013-2014 by John Thomas Lamar, Jr on behalf of Tate County School District (jtm) (Entered: 03/01/2016)	Feb. 29, 2016	Feb. 29, 2016
11	NOTICE of Attorney Appearance by Jamie Ferguson Jacks on behalf of Tate County School District (Jacks, Jamie)	March 31, 2016	March 31, 2016
12	MOTION to Amend/Correct 4 Order on Motion to Amend/Correct Attendance Zone Lines by Tate County School District. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1970 Order, # 2 Exhibit 2010 Order, # 3 Exhibit Motion, # 4 Exhibit Affidavit) (Jacks, Jamie)	April 1, 2016	April 1, 2016
13	MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT re 12 MOTION to Amend/Correct 4 Order on Motion to Amend/Correct Attendance Zone Lines . (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1970 Order, # 2 Exhibit 2010 Order, # 3 Exhibit Motion, # 4 Exhibit Affidavit) (Jacks, Jamie)	April 1, 2016	April 1, 2016
	Case Reassigned to District Judge Debra M. Brown. W. Allen Pepper no longer assigned to the case. (jtm)	April 4, 2016	April 4, 2016
14	MOTION to Extend Time to Respond by Solomon C. Osborne on behalf of Kelly McNeal re 12 MOTION to Amend/Correct 4 Order on Motion to Amend/Correct Attendance Zone Lines On behalf of Jessie Edwards and others Plaintiffs/Intervenors (Osborne, Solomon) Modified on 5/3/2016 (tab).	May 2, 2016	May 2, 2016
15	RESPONSE in Opposition re 14 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply filed by Tate County School District. (Jacks, Jamie)	May 6, 2016	May 6, 2016
16	BRIEF In Support re 14 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply Brief In Support of Response to Motion for Enlargement of Time filed by Tate County School District. (Jacks, Jamie) Modified on 5/9/2016 (tab).	May 6, 2016	May 6, 2016
17	MOTION to Expedite Review by Tate County School District. (Jacks, Jamie)	May 11, 2016	May 11, 2016 RECAP
18	MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT re 17 MOTION to Expedite Review . (Jacks, Jamie)	May 11, 2016	May 11, 2016 RECAP
19	ORDER Regarding 17 MOTION to Expedite Review filed by Tate County School District. Signed by District Judge Debra M. Brown on 05/16/2016. (gpk)	May 16, 2016	May 16, 2016 RECAP
20	MOTION to Substitute Party, MOTION to Intervene by Kelly McNeal. (Osborne, Solomon)	May 18, 2016	May 18, 2016
21	Supplement to Motion re 17 MOTION to Expedite Review AFFIDAVIT OF DR. DARYL SCOGGIN filed by Tate County School District. (Jacks, Jamie)	May 18, 2016	May 18, 2016
22	NOTICE of Conference: Telephonic Status Conference set for 5/25/2016 03:00 PM in Greenville Courtroom 1 before District Judge Debra M. Brown. (rt)	May 24, 2016	May 24, 2016
23	RESPONSE to Motion re 20 MOTION to Substitute Party MOTION to Intervene filed by Tate County School District. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit "A" - 1970 ORDER, # 2 Exhibit "B" - 2010 ORDER, # 3 Exhibit "C" - MOTION, # 4 Exhibit "D" - AFFIDAVIT) (Jacks, Jamie)	May 25, 2016	May 25, 2016
24	MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT re 23 Response to Motion, . (Jacks, Jamie)	May 25, 2016	May 25, 2016
25	Minute Entry for proceedings held before District Judge Debra M. Brown: Telephonic Status Conference held on 5/25/2016. (rt)	May 25, 2016	May 25, 2016
26	RESPONSE in Opposition re 17 MOTION to Expedite Review filed by Kelly McNeal. (Osborne, Solomon)	May 31, 2016	May 31, 2016
27	REPLY to Response to Motion re 20 MOTION to Substitute Party MOTION to Intervene filed by Kelly McNeal. (Osborne, Solomon)	May 31, 2016	May 31, 2016
28	REPLY to Response to Motion re 14 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply filed by Kelly McNeal. (Osborne, Solomon)	May 31, 2016	May 31, 2016
29	NOTICE OF SERVICE of Rule 26(a)(1) Initial Disclosures by Jamie Ferguson Jacks on behalf of Tate County School District to Plaintiffs. (Jacks, Jamie)	May 31, 2016	May 31, 2016
30	RESPONSE in Support re 17 MOTION to Expedite Review filed by Tate County School District. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit "A" - MDE East Tate data, # 2 Exhibit "B" - 2010 Order, # 3 Exhibit "C" - MDE District Level data) (Jacks, Jamie)	June 6, 2016	June 6, 2016
31	NOTICE of Conference: Telephonic Status Conference set for 6/14/2016 01:30 PM in Greenville Courtroom 1 before District Judge Debra M. Brown. (rt)	June 10, 2016	June 10, 2016
32	NOTICE of Attorney Appearance by John Thomas Lamar, III on behalf of Tate County School District (Lamar, John)	June 13, 2016	June 13, 2016
33	MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER denying as moot 14 Motion for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply ; granting in part and denying in part 17 Motion to Expedite; granting 20 Motion to Substitute Party. Undra Todd, Linderia Todd, Rosaland Milam, Gwendolyn Bonne, Ciera Jackson, Georgia Carr, Angela Johnson and Carolyn Daniels added. Kelly McNeal (et al) terminated. Signed by District Judge Debra M. Brown on 6/14/16. (jtm)	June 14, 2016	June 14, 2016 RECAP
34	Minute Entry for proceedings held before District Judge Debra M. Brown: Telephone Status Conference held on 6/14/2016. (rt) (Entered: 06/15/2016)	June 14, 2016	June 14, 2016
35	Supplement to Motion re 12 MOTION to Amend/Correct 4 Order on Motion to Amend/Correct Attendance Zone Lines filed by Tate County School District. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit "A" - MDE data, # 2 Exhibit "B" - 1970 Order, # 3 Exhibit "C" - 2010 Order, # 4 Exhibit "D" - Motion, # 5 Exhibit "E" - Affidavit #1, # 6 Exhibit "F" - Affidavit #2) (Jacks, Jamie)	June 21, 2016	June 21, 2016
36	MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT re 35 Supplement to Motion, . (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit "A" - MDE data, # 2 Exhibit "B" - 1970 Order, # 3 Exhibit "C" - 2010 Order, # 4 Exhibit "D" - Motion, # 5 Exhibit "E" - Affidavit #1, # 6 Exhibit "F" - Affidavit #2) (Jacks, Jamie)	June 21, 2016	June 21, 2016
37	MOTION Miscellaneous relief and Discovery re 6 Notice (Other), 7 Notice (Other), 36 Memorandum in Support, 9 Notice (Other), 5 Notice (Other), 12 MOTION to Amend/Correct 4 Order on Motion to Amend/Correct Attendance Zone Lines, 35 Supplement to Motion, 10 Notice (Other), 8 Notice (Other) by Kelly McNeal. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Exhibit 1, Desegregation Order,dated August 4, 1970, # 2 Exhibit Exhibit 2, Letter to Jamie Jacks, # 3 Exhibit Exhibit 3, 2003 Report, # 4 Exhibit Exhibit 4, 2004 Report, # 5 Exhibit Exhibit 5, 2005 Report, # 6 Exhibit Exhibit 6, 2006 Report, # 7 Exhibit Exhibit 7, 2007 Report, # 8 Exhibit Exhibit 8, 2008 Report, # 9 Exhibit Exhibit 9, 2009 Report, # 10 Exhibit Exhibit 10, 2010 Report, # 11 Exhibit Exhibit 11, 2011 Report, # 12 Exhibit Exhibit 12, 2013-2014 Report, # 13 Exhibit Exhibit 13, 2014-2015 Report) (Osborne, Solomon) (Entered: 06/24/2016) 1 Exhibit Exhibit 1, Desegregation Order,dated August 4, 1970 View on PACER 2 Exhibit Exhibit 2, Letter to Jamie Jacks View on PACER 3 Exhibit Exhibit 3, 2003 Report View on PACER 4 Exhibit Exhibit 4, 2004 Report View on PACER 5 Exhibit Exhibit 5, 2005 Report View on PACER 6 Exhibit Exhibit 6, 2006 Report View on PACER 7 Exhibit Exhibit 7, 2007 Report View on PACER 8 Exhibit Exhibit 8, 2008 Report View on PACER 9 Exhibit Exhibit 9, 2009 Report View on PACER 10 Exhibit Exhibit 10, 2010 Report View on PACER 11 Exhibit Exhibit 11, 2011 Report View on PACER 12 Exhibit Exhibit 12, 2013-2014 Report View on PACER 13 Exhibit Exhibit 13, 2014-2015 Report View on PACER	June 23, 2016	June 23, 2016 RECAP

Case: McNeal v. Tate County School District

2:70-cv-00029 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi

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