In an action for admission to a graduate or undergraduate school, counsel for all the litigants and trial judges too should be sensitive to the necessity for speedy justice. Lucy v. Adams, N.D. Ala., 1955, 134 F. Supp. 235, aff'd 5 Cir., 228 F.2d 619, cert. den. 351 U.S. 931, 76 S.Ct. 790, 100 L.Ed. 1460; see also 350 U.S. 1, 76 S.Ct. 33, 100 L.Ed. 3, and State of Florida ex rel. Hawkins v. Board of Control, 1956, 350 U.S. 413, 76 S.Ct. 464, 100 L.Ed. 486. IV.
If the Constitution required that appellate courts worry about "resentment on the part" of a district court judge or by the community, as Judge Garth suggests, at 991, then James Meredith would still be waiting in vain to enter the University of Mississippi, Autherine Lucy's application to the University of Alabama would still be in limbo, and thousands of blacks denied the right to vote in Forrest County, Mississippi would still be disenfranchised. See United States v. Barnett; Lucy v. Adams, 228 F.2d 619 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 351 U.S. 931, 76 S.Ct. 790, 100 L.Ed. 1460 (1956); United States v. Lynd.See generally Note, Judicial Performance in the Fifth Circuit, 73 Yale L.J. 90 (1963).
The state-supported colleges in South Carolina and Alabama are also uniracial. The University of Alabama, however, is under order to admit negroes. Lucy v. Adams, N.D.Ala., 1955, 134 F. Supp. 235, affirmed 5 Cir., 228 F.2d 619, cert. denied, 351 U.S. 931, 76 S.Ct. 790, 100 L. Ed. 1460; 350 U.S. 1, 76 S.Ct. 33, 100 L.Ed. 3 (1955). After graduation from high school at the age of seventeen, Meredith volunteered for the United States Air Force. He was honorably discharged nine years later.
Here is a well-defined class whose rights are sought to be vindicated. We think that our decisions in Adams v. Lucy, 5 Cir., 228 F.2d 619, certiorari denied 351 U.S. 931, 76 S.Ct. 790, 100 L.Ed. 1460, and Board of Supervisors of L.S.U., etc. v. Tureaud, 5 Cir., 225 F.2d 434, affirmed en banc, 5 Cir., 228 F.2d 895, certiorari denied 351 U.S. 924, 76 S.Ct. 780, 100 L. Ed. 1454, by clearest implication reject appellant's contention that in such a situation the named plaintiffs may not bring a class action on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated. See also Carter v. School Board of Arlington County, Va., 4 Cir., 182 F.2d 531, and Frasier v. Board of Trustees of University of North Carolina, D.C., 134 F. Supp. 589, affirmed per curiam 350 U.S. 979, 76 S.Ct. 467, 100 L.Ed. 848.
No amount of casuistry can change the meaning of the statute so as to invest it with the meaning lately given it in this Circuit. See, e.g., Board of Supervisors, etc., v. Tureaud, 5 Cir., 1955, 225 F.2d 435, and same case, 5 Cir., 1955, 226 F.2d 714, and 5 Cir., 1956, 228 F.2d 896; and see also Brown v. Rippy, 5 Cir., 233 F.2d 796; and Lucy v. Adams, D.C.N.D.Ala. 1955, 134 F. Supp. 235, affirmed Adams v. Lucy, 5 Cir., 1956, 228 F.2d 619. The Supreme Court had declared unequivocally what Congress meant by this statute in its decision in Stratton v. St. Louis Southwestern Railway Co., 1930, 282 U.S. 10, 14-15, 51 S.Ct. 8, 10, 75 L. Ed. 135:
PER CURIAM. This is an appeal from a judgment in a contempt proceeding begun in the District Court for the Northern District of Alabama by motion of Autherine J. Lucy and Polly Anne Myers, plaintiffs-appellees in Adams v. Lucy, 5 Cir., 228 F.2d 619, alleging that William F. Adams, defendant-appellant in that cause had neglected and refused to comply with and obey the judgment entered therein. The district Judge, upon full findings of fact and conclusions of law, correctly determined, held and adjudged, that the defendant did not violate the injunction, and denied plaintiffs' motion to hold him in contempt.
On August 26, 1955, Judge Grooms ordered the UA officials to admit Ms. Lucy, and the Court of Appeals affirmed on February 1, 1956. Lucy v. Adams, 134 F. Supp. 235 (N.D.Ala.), aff'd 228 F.2d 619 (5th Cir. 1955), KX 3152, 3151. Ms. Lucy registered on February 1, 1956, four years after her initial application.
The University appealed the case to the Court of Appeals and sought review by the Supreme Court; and on October 12, 1955, the United States Supreme Court denied review. Lucy v. Adams, 134 F. Supp. 235 (N.D.Ala. 1955); aff'd 228 F.2d 619 (5th Cir. 1955); cert. denied, 351 U.S. 931, 76 S.Ct. 790, 100 L.Ed. 1460 (1955). The University denied admission to Lucy and Myers in the fall semester of 1955, on the ground that their applications were tardy.
See, e.g., Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, 231 F. Supp. 743 (M.D.Ala., 1964); Harris v. Crenshaw County Board of Education, 259 F. Supp. 167 (M.D.Ala., 1966); Franklin v. Barbour County Board of Education, 259 F. Supp. 545 (M.D.Ala., 1966); Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, 267 F. Supp. 458 (M.D.Ala.), aff'd. 389 U.S. 215, 88 S.Ct. 415, 19 L.Ed.2d 422 (1967); Alabama State Teachers Association v. Lowndes County Board of Education, 289 F. Supp. 300 (M.D.Ala., 1968); Adams v. Lucy, 228 F.2d 619 (CA5, 1955), cert. denied 351 U.S. 931, 76 S.Ct. 790, 100 L.Ed. 1460 (1956); Franklin v. Parker, 223 F. Supp. 724 (M.D.Ala., 1963), modified 331 F.2d 841 (CA5, 1964). Other state practices of racial discrimination that are at least a background to the discriminatory practices in this case include racial segregation and discrimination in the Alabama penal system, Washington v. Lee, 263 F. Supp. 327 (M.D.Ala., 1966), aff'd.
The colleges at Florence, Jacksonville, Livingston and Troy are designated for "white teachers" by Title 52, ยง 438, Code of Alabama. The University of Alabama was held to be limited by tradition and custom to white students only in Lucy v. Adams, 134 F. Supp. 235 (1955); 228 F.2d 619, cert. denied 351 U.S. 931, 76 S.Ct. 790, 100 L.Ed. 1460. In 1956, Alabama State College was given probationary accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.