Associate Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens refused last Thursday to reverse a lower-court ruling that bars the Nashville, Tenn., school district from implementing a desegregation plan.
His decision--coming the day before schools were scheduled to open--has led to what local officials describe as a “chaotic” situation.
Justice Stevens rejected an appeal by lawyers of the Nashville Metropolitan County Board of Education to overturn a decision made last Wednesday by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the implementation of the school board’s court-ordered plan to improve the racial mix in the area’s public schools.
After an emergency session, a spokesman for the 68,000-student system said that if school board lawyers are unsuccessful in further attempts being made today to get the stay overturned, the Nashville-Davidson County schools will not open until September 14.
The Circuit Court’s decision handed down Wednesday upheld a petition by the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Educational Fund that contends the proposed plan would in fact resegregate parts of the school system.
Richard H. Dinkins, a Legal Defense Fund lawyer involved in the case, said his organization was opposed in particular to provisions of’ the plan that allow for largely-segregated neighborhood schools at the elementary level and the closing of existing upper-grade schools in black neighborhoods.
Justice Stevens said the claims in the Legal Defense Fund’s petition were of sufficient significance to uphold the lower court decision.
