In Their Hands: An Analysis Of Supreme Court Interpretation Of The Fourteenth Amendment And The Fate Of School Desegregation, 1954-2007

Through its judicial interpretation of the fourteenth amendment and equal protection clause, the U.S. Supreme Court has profoundly impacted racial diversity in the nation's public schools. This study found four shifts in judicial interpretation that align with actual changes in racial-make up of students. Second, this study examined the 2007 Parents Involved decision and the future of desegregation student assignment policies. The Supreme Court's initial endorsement of segregation during the time period 1899-1938 resulted in widespread legally sanctioned school desegregation. The second phase of judicial interpretation is marked by the Court's eventual move towards ending K-12 segregation by first outlawing racial segregation in institutions of higher education during the time period 1938-1954. In 1954 the Court entered its third phase of interpretation as marked in the iconic Brown v. Board decision thus, beginning a nearly two decade phase wherein racial segregation in public schools sharply declined. However, by 1974 the Court began a fourth phase of interpretation wherein it refused to expand its interpretation of the equal protection clause to further promote methods of desegregation. This fourth phase parallels an increase in school segregation through present day. Second, this study examined the ways in which the recent Parents Involved (2007) Court decisions will influence future student assignment policies. Schools districts seeking to pursue racial integration face barriers such as patterns of intense residential and economic segregation. Because the Parents decision held race cannot be used as the deciding factor in student assignment policies, schools and districts wishing to promote integration must do so through assignment plans that do not violate the 2007 holding. Several methods of legally permissible integration plans are reviewed. Recommendations for how future policies can withstand judicial scrutiny are made.