Education

Judge To Decide Rights Case Status

By Tom Mirga — October 03, 1984 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A federal appeals court here has ruled that a federal district judge must determine whether the plaintiffs in a key civil-rights case against the government still have legal standing to press their lawsuit.

According to Elliott Lichtman, a lawyer for the naacp Legal Defense and Educational Fund who represents the black plaintiffs in Adams v. Bell, a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held Sept. 14 that the district judge must determine whether the plaintiffs still have standing to sue in light of a controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision in July.

In that case, Allen v. Wright, the Court ruled that a group of black parents from several Southern states had no standing to go to court to force the Internal Revenue Service to apply more vigorously its policy of denying tax-exempt status to private schools that discriminate on the basis of race.

Rigid Schedules

In the Adams case, U.S. District Judge John H. Pratt has handed down several orders requiring the Education Department’s office for civil rights to comply with rigid schedules for the processing of civil-rights complaints and compliance reviews.

The Reagan Administration had asked the federal appeals court to do away with the schedules on the grounds that they are unworkable and represent unconstitutional judicial interference in executive-branch affairs.

Mr. Lichtman said his clients have not yet decided whether to ask for a rehearing before the entire appeals court.

“I think there is no doubt that our plaintiffs have standing to sue,” Mr. Lichtman said. In the Allen case, he explained, the black parents who brought the lawsuit had never attempted to enroll their children in the allegedly discriminatory academies. “In our case, we have students attending schools that are getting federal aid.”

The litigants in the Adams case were given 45 days to file a petition for a rehearing. According to Mr. Lichtman, the appellate panel left intact the schedules for resolving civil-rights disputes until after the court has ruled on any such petition.

A version of this article appeared in the October 03, 1984 edition of Education Week as Judge To Decide Rights Case Status

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read