Case: 2:65-Cv-00031-DMB-JMV Doc #: 215 Filed: 05/13/16 1 of 96 Pageid #: 4392
Case: 2:65-cv-00031-DMB-JMV Doc #: 215 Filed: 05/13/16 1 of 96 PageID #: 4392 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI DELTA DIVISION DIANE COWAN, minor, by her mother PLAINTIFFS and next friend, Mrs. Alberta Johnson, et al.; FLOYD COWAN, JR., minor, by his mother and next friend, Mrs. Alberta Johnson, et al.; LENDEN SANDERS; MACK SANDERS; CRYSTAL WILLIAMS; AMELIA WESLEY; DASHANDA FRAZIER; ANGINETTE TERRELL PAYNE; ANTONIO LEWIS; BRENDA LEWIS; and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA INTERVENOR-PLAINTIFF V. NO. 2:65-CV-31-DMB BOLIVAR COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, et al. DEFENDANTS OPINION AND ORDER On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court issued the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education, holding that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.” 347 U.S. 483, 495 (1954) (“Brown I”). A year later, on May 31, 1955, the Supreme Court issued a second order directing compliance with Brown I “with all deliberate speed.” Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 349 U.S. 294, 301 (1955) (“Brown II”). Ten years after Brown II, residents of Bolivar County, Mississippi, filed this now fifty-year-old action seeking the desegregation of their school system. After decades of litigation, this case is currently before the Court for the determination of an appropriate desegregation remedy for the high schools and middle schools in the Cleveland School District (“District”) in Bolivar County. Case: 2:65-cv-00031-DMB-JMV Doc #: 215 Filed: 05/13/16 2 of 96 PageID #: 4393 Upon consideration of the parties’ proposed desegregation plans, the Court concludes that, in order to achieve constitutionally-required desegregation, the District must consolidate its high schools and must consolidate its middle schools.
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