- Date:
- April 20, 1971
- Location:
- Alabama
- United States
Davis v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County
-
What was the Davis v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County case?
Davis v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County was a U.S. Supreme Court case concerning school desegregation. In 1971, the Court ruled unanimously (9–0) that the desegregation plan for Mobile County, Alabama, was insufficient and required a more effective plan.
The case originated in 1963, when a lawsuit was filed on behalf of African American students, including Birdie Mae Davis, due to the Mobile county school system's failure to implement an effective desegregation plan following Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954). The Court found that lower courts should have used every available remedy to correct constitutional violations in the existing desegregation plan, including restructuring attendance zones and utilizing bus transportation.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Where did this case take place and who was involved?
Davis v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County took place in Mobile County, Alabama. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled on it on April 20, 1971.
The case originated in 1963 with a lawsuit filed on behalf of African American students, including Birdie Mae Davis, against the Mobile County Board of Education because their desegregation plan was ineffective. The Supreme Court found that lower courts had not used every possible remedy to desegregate the school system and called for a more realistic plan.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What was the main issue or complaint in the Davis v. Board of School Commissioners case?
The central issue in Davis v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County was the ineffective desegregation plan implemented by the Mobile County, Alabama, school system nearly a decade after the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision.
Despite a lawsuit filed in 1963 on behalf of African American students, the school system failed to create a realistic plan to eliminate segregation. The existing plan left a significant number of Black students in all-Black or almost all-Black schools. The Supreme Court found that lower courts should have used every available remedy to create a desegregation plan that realistically worked.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What arguments did each side make during this court case?
Davis v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County was a case regarding the desegregation plan for Mobile County, Alabama. In 1963, a lawsuit was filed because the Mobile county school system failed to implement an effective desegregation plan almost 10 years after Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
The U.S. Supreme Court held that lower courts should have used every available remedy, including restructuring attendance zones, once constitutional violations had been discovered in a desegregation plan. The court found that the Fifth Circuit should not have treated the eastern and western sections separately and that inadequate attention had been given to using bus transportation and split zoning.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What was the court's decision in the Davis v. Board of School Commissioners case?
In Davis v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (9–0) on April 20, 1971, that Mobile county, Alabama's desegregation plan needed more realistic remedies.
The Court found that lower courts should use every available remedy, including restructuring attendance zones, once constitutional violations are found in a desegregation plan. It determined that the Fifth Circuit should not have treated the eastern and western sections of the county separately and that bus transportation and split zoning deserved more consideration. The case was remanded with instructions to fashion a remedy that realistically works and to implement it promptly.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How did the Davis case affect public schools or textbooks in the United States?
Davis v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County was a Supreme Court case about desegregation. In 1971, the Court ruled that Mobile County, Alabama's desegregation plan was inadequate and didn't use all possible remedies.
The ruling stated that lower courts needed to create a better plan to integrate schools. The case was filed because, even 10 years after Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Mobile county school system hadn't successfully desegregated. The Supreme Court's decision required the county to restructure attendance zones and consider transportation options like busing to achieve integration. The case did not directly address textbooks.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Davis v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on April 20, 1971, ruled (9–0) that the desegregation plan for Mobile county, Alabama, did not make use of all possible remedies and that lower courts needed to develop a more realistic plan. Davis was one of numerous cases in which the Supreme Court showed its impatience with inadequate desegregation efforts.
Nearly 10 years after Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) struck down desegregation, the Mobile county school system had failed to implement an effective desegregation plan. In 1963 a lawsuit was filed on behalf of a number of African American students, including Birdie Mae Davis. The case subsequently was involved in protracted legal proceedings as various plans were considered and rejected. In the late 1960s the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals declared that a plan based on unified geographic zones inadequately eliminated desegregation to achieve a unitary school system. It remanded, and a federal district court then fashioned another plan, which left 18,623, or 60 percent, of the district’s African American students in 19 schools that were all Black or almost all Black.
The Fifth Circuit reviewed and called for the elimination of the seven all-Black schools that still existed under the district court’s plan. According to the Fifth Circuit, that could be achieved through pairing and adjusting grade structures; busing and split zoning was not suggested. In the next proposal, the district court treated the eastern and western parts of the county as distinct. It achieved desegregation in the western section, which was 88 percent white and 12 percent Black, but the eastern section—which contained 94 percent of the Black students in the Mobile metropolitan area—remained segregated, with 12 all-Black or almost all-Black elementary schools. The Fifth Circuit rejected that proposal and instead accepted a modified version of a U.S. Department of Justice plan, which was expected to reduce the number of all- or nearly all-Black schools but still treated the eastern and western sections as separate entities. The plan was put into place for the 1970–71 school term. However, it was largely ineffective, as nine elementary schools in the eastern section remained all Black, and half of the Black “junior and senior high school students” were in all-Black or nearly all-Black schools.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
On October 13–14, 1970, the case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. It held that once constitutional violations had been discovered in a desegregation plan, the lower courts should have used every available remedy, including restructuring contiguous and noncontiguous attendance zones. The Supreme Court found that the Fifth Circuit should have abandoned treating the eastern and western sections separately. In addition, the court held that inadequate attention had been given to using bus transportation and split zoning. Citing Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968), the court remanded with instructions to fashion a remedy “that promises realistically to work” and to work at the present time.
More legal proceedings ensued, and the case was finally dismissed in 1997.