Evening star., 1953-12-06
Segregation

IL 01AlEO ana Jne DlSCrlCC
= some sort of segregation Of
school children by race is prac-
ticed. 1t is practice frequently
criticized as morally wrong" and
frequently approved as morally
right" Most opinions on school
segregation are, in fact, based on
personal views of right and wrong.
The Supreme Court, however, is
faced with the problem of judging
school segregation from the point
of view of the law, moral consid-
erations aside. Last week hun
dreds of pages of legal arguments
and some moral" ones for good
meaSure-were filed with the Su-
preme Court. Next week those
and other arguments will be elab-
Grated on orally before the court.
Then the nine justices will have to
decide if segregation is legal
constitutional, that iS-and if so,
under what circumstances; and II
not, how integration should be
brought about. The decision,
whichever way it goes, will have a
profound effect on the way of life
in those II States and the District.
Here is what last weeks legal
briefs were all about:
The District, Virginia, South
Carolina, Kansas and Delaware are
defending segregation against Ne
groeS who have gone to court con-
tending that segregation violates
their rights under the 14th amend
ment, or, in the case of the Dis
trict suit, under the fifth amend
ment. (The 14th bars States from
depriving persons of certain rights;
the fifth bars the Federal Govern
ment from withholding similar
rightS.)
The Questions
The cases first were argued be-
fore the Supreme Court a year ago.
The high court did not reach a de-
cision, however. Instead it asked
last spring that the current hear
ings be held so that more opinions
could be expressed by both sides
on two principal questions:
. What did the trainers of the
18th amendment have in mind?
Did they mean for the amendment
to bar segregation in schools?
. And if segregation were to be
ended, what would be the best way
for the Supreme Court to handle
the transition to integration?
The spotlight last week was on
the arguments of the States and
the District. Their views boiled
down roughly to this: There is
nothing in the legal history of the
14th amendment to indicate it was
to apply to school segregation; but
If integration is ordered, it should
be gradual and should be super
vised in It's details by lower Federal
courts in the areas affected.
District Cose
The District said integration
would be difficult to handle
smoothly and impossible to handle
swiftly. Proper indoctrination and
instruction Of teachers, and pas
sage of necessary legislation, in
cluding appropriations for required
change, make the immediate
change to a unified local system
impossible" the brief said.
The Negro litigants answer the
Supreme Courts two questions this
way: It is clear that the 14th
amendment was intended to do
away with all restriction based on
race. "a brief filed by Attorney
General Brownell took q similar
stand.) And integration could be
accomplished with reasonable ra-
pidity, say by the fall school terms
of 1854 If the court decision comes
in the spring.
This week will be taken up by
oral arguments from both sides.
Then the court will retire to ponder
the cases. It's decisions Is not ex-
pected until spring.