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.
Copyright 2004 San Diego Law Review. Posted with the permission fo the San Diego Law Review. Personal use of this material is permitted. In addition, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for created new collective works for resale or redistribution to severs or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the San Diego Law Review. Hard copies and or electronic download of this article may be obtained by contracting the William S. Hein Co. at http://www.wshein.com/ or EBSCO at http://ejournals.ebsco.com/home.asp or Lexis/Westlaw.