Cooper v. Aaron

358 U.S. 1 (1958)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The Little Rock District School approved a plan for desegregation. Its plan was for a phased introduction taking up to 8 years. Upon challenge by a group of Negro plaintiffs desiring more rapid completion of the desegregation process, the District Court upheld the School Board's plan. The Court of Appeals affirmed. An amendment to the State Constitution flatly commanding the Arkansas General Assembly to oppose 'in every Constitutional manner the Unconstitutional desegregation decisions of May 17, 1954, and May 31, 1955, of the United States Supreme Court,' was enacted by the General Assembly in February 1957. On the day before 9 Negro students were to enter Central High, the Governor of Arkansas dispatched units of the Arkansas National Guard to the Central High School grounds and placed the school 'off limits' to colored students. This action had not been requested by the school authorities nor even the mayor or police chief of Little Rock. The children attempted to enter the school on September 4, 1957, and the men of the Arkansas National Guard forcibly prevented the 9 Negro students from entering. This continued for the next three weeks. The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas was requested by the District Court to begin an immediate investigation in order to fix responsibility for the interference with the orderly implementation of the District Court's direction to carry out the desegregation program. On September 23, 1957, the Negro children entered the high school that morning under the protection of the Little Rock Police Department and members of the Arkansas State Police. The officers caused the children to be removed from the school during the morning because they had difficulty controlling a large and demonstrating crowd which had gathered at the high school. The President of the United States dispatched federal troops to Central High School, and admission of the Negro students to the school was affected. Regular army troops continued at the high school until November 27, 1957. They were then replaced by federalized National Guardsmen who remained throughout the balance of the school year. Eight of the Negro students remained in attendance at the school throughout the school year. The School Board and the Superintendent of Schools filed a petition in the District Court seeking a postponement of their program for desegregation. The District Court granted the relief requested by the Board. Among other things, the court found that the past year at Central High School had been attended by conditions of 'chaos, bedlam, and turmoil'; that there were 'repeated incidents of more or less serious violence directed against the Negro students and their property'; that there was 'tension and unrest among the school administrators, the classroom teachers, the pupils, and the parents, which inevitably had an adverse effect upon the educational program'; that a school official was threatened with violence; that a 'serious financial burden' had been cast on the School District; that the education of the students had suffered 'and under existing conditions will continue to suffer'; that the Board would continue to need 'military assistance or its equivalent'; that the local police department would not be able 'to detail enough men to afford the necessary protection'; and that the situation was 'intolerable.' The Negro respondents appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and also sought a stay of the District Court's judgment. The Court of Appeals reversed the District Court. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.