The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1957-01-04
NO. 81
Circuit Court OF
Appeals Upholds
Indignation Order
Charlottesville And
Arlington to Appeal
To L. S. Court

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held the rulings of lower court
judges that Charlottesville and
Arlington must desegregate their
public schools.
The three judge Appeals Court
unanimously affirmed the action
of Judge John Paul of Charlottes-
vile who ruled last July II that
the Charlottesville school board
members must begin to desegre-
gate their public schools at the
beginning Of the 1856 fall term.
Several weeks later Judge Al
bert Bryan ordered the Arlington
county school board to begin de-
segregation in elementary schools
by January 81 and junior and SEN
ior high schools by fall of 1857.
Both of these cases were appeal
ed to the Fourth Circuit Court Of
Appeals, and the decision was
handed down Monday upholding
the ruling of Judges Paul and
Bryan.
Fighting I'd the bitter end, the
Charlottesville a n d Arlington
county school boards have an
nounced that they will ask the
United States Supreme Court to
review the desegregation orders.
Attorney j, Lindsay Almond
said that the Circuit Court of APP
peals would be petitioned TO stay
its order pending the outcome of
the appeal to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Appeal
The appeal to the Supreme Court
will be made on the same grounds
as was the appeal to Circuit Court
of Appeals. These are II whether
the action should be dismissed as
suits against the state: . wheth-
Ell the plaintiffs had failed 10 eX-
haust their administrative rene
dies; and 81 whether the federal
district judges abused their dis
cretionary powers.
In turning down the appeal.
Chief Judge John j. Parker. of
Charlotte, n c.. noted that the
DEGREES here are not harsh or UNI
reasonable but merely require
that the law be observed and dis
, elimination on the ground Of race
be eliminated.
Judge Parker wrote a lengthy
opinion turning down the appeal
and the opinion was agreed with
by Judges Morris A Soper and,
Simon E. Sobeloff. of Baltimore.
who constituted the three judge
court
IN the opinion, the appeals
court did not rule on the constitu-
tionality of the package of anti
indignation legislation passed by
the special session of the General
Assembly last fall. The opinion
said that the injunction shall
not be construed as multiplying any
state or local rules, now in force
or hereafter promulgated, for the
assignment Of children TO classes,
courses Of st udy or schools, so long
as such rule Or assignments are
not based upon race or color"
Pupil Placement
John S. Battle, Jr., attorney for
for the Charlottesville school
board, said that he believed the
order would only require the
school board to handle applica-
tions for the admission Or trans
fer of school pupils on a racially
non discriminatory basis.
Thus the three member Pupil
Placement Board would have TO
rule on such requests. The Pupil
Placement Board wired each
Of the county school boards in the
State last Saturday telling them
that they have been Invested of
their power to assign pupils to
schools. This will be the function
of the new pupil placement board
as created by the extra session Of
the Virginia General Assembly n
1856. The Board began its form
al operation on Dec. 30, 1856.
State Laws Attacked
The pupil placement board and
other segregation laws" have
been attacked as unconstitutional
by NAACP lawyers in their argu-
ments before Ju d g Sterling
on Nov, ID in the Dis
trict Court. Similar arguments
were made by NAACP lawyers in
the Norfolk Newport News school
case heard by District Judge Wal
ter Z. Hoffman that the new as
signment law is unconstitutional
on its face.
The attorneys for Prince Ed
ward county noted that three
Judge federal court must be con-
vened to decide any constitutional
questions involved. such as the
one advanced by the NAACP law
verS.
In the most recent decision of
This nature. Chief Judge John }.
Parker held that Negro plaintiffs.
IN Mcdowell County N. c.. must
exhaust the requirements of that
states pupil placement act before
The case would be brought into
the District Court.
Thus in the Charlottesville and
Arlington cases. if upheld by the
Court. the plaintiffs
must then go through the pupil
board and exhaust the
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