Numerous school districts across the United States still operate under desegregation orders originally implemented in the decades following the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which held that racially segregated school districts were unconstitutional. 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Achieving unitary status marks the point at which a formerly racially segregated school system is deemed to have dismantled de jure segregation and, therefore, may be released from federal court supervision.

Generally, school districts operating under desegregation orders not only must comply with the specific requirements set forth in those orders but also have an “affirmative duty to take…

Continue Reading Some Recent Motions for Unitary Status Seem to Be Facing Less Careful Scrutiny