Brown II's All Deliberate Speed at Fifty: Golden Anniversary or Mid-Life Crisis for the Constitutional Injunction as a Desegregation Remedy?

Abstract:     
In 1955 in Brown II the Supreme Court instructed school authorities and federal judges how to implement its decision in Brown I that racially segregated public schools violated the constitution. This article summarizes the half-century of federal injunctions that the courts granted to desegregate schools. It organizes the injunctions chronologically under three headings, "all deliberate speed," desegregate "now," and "unitary" districts. Rejecting both extravagant hoopla and charges of "failure," the article approves disciplined judicial discretion leading to large-scale structural injunctions when the times are ripe because unconstitutional conditions warrant massive judicial reconstruction. In particular, the article maintains that the courts' job of managing the schools' transition from mandated race segregation to desegregated districts has touched almost everyone, mostly for the better, but remains incomplete.

Accepted Paper Series