Summary
affirming that the use of racial guidelines in a public school's student assignment plan "met the constraints of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because the school board had a compelling interest to use the racial guidelines and applied them in a manner that was narrowly tailored to realize its goals"
Summary of this case from Save Our Schools — S.E. Northeast v. D.C. Board of EducationOpinion
No. 04-5897.
Argued: June 9, 2005.
Decided and Filed: July 21, 2005.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky at Louisville. No. 02-00620 — John G. Heyburn II, Chief District Judge.
Teddy B. Gordon, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellant.
Francis J. Mellen, Jr., Wyatt, Tarrant Combs, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellees.
Francis J. Mellen, Jr., Byron E. Leet, Wyatt, Tarrant Combs, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellees.
Amy D. Cubbage, Sheryl G. Snyder, Bridget H. Papalia, Frost, Brown Todd, Louisville, Kentucky, Morgan G. Ransdell, Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, Louisville, Kentucky, Chester Darling, Citizens for the Preservation of Constitutional Rights, Andover, Massachusetts, Michael Williams, Robert J. Roughsedge, Citizens for the Preservation of Constitutional Rights, Boston, Massachusetts, Maya R. Kobersy, John W. Borkowski, Maree Sneed, Hogan Hartson, Washington, D.C., Albert H. Kauffman, the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Chinh Quang Le, Naacp Legal Defense Educational Fund, New York, New York, for Amici Curiae.
OPINION
Plaintiff Crystal Meredith, on behalf of her son Joshua Ryan McDonald, appeals the decision of the district court to uphold the student assignment plan of the Jefferson County Public Schools, which includes racial guidelines. The district court concluded that the assignment plan met the constraints of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because the school board had a compelling interest to use the racial guidelines and applied them in a manner that was narrowly tailored to realize its goals. McFarland v. Jefferson County Public Schools, 330 F.Supp.2d 834 (W.D.Ky. 2004).
Because the reasoning which supports judgment for defendants has been articulated in the well-reasoned opinion of the district court, the issuance of a detailed written opinion by this court would serve no useful purpose.
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.