Opinion ID: 381246
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Opinion by the District Court

Text: 11 Appellants contended in the district court that the amendments impermissibly interfere with the two civil rights enforcement concepts introduced respectively, in Brown v. Board of Education, supra, and Cooper v. Aaron, supra. They claimed both that the amendments inhibit desegregation and that they cause the federal government to provide support for segregated public education. Judge Sirica for the district court rejected both claims insofar as they attack the amendments on their face, not as applied. 43 First he found no impermissible inhibition of desegregation because the amendments do not bar either local or federal action to desegregate the schools as required by Brown v. Board of Education, supra, and to adopt a transportation plan if necessary. Judge Sirica distinguished the instant case from North Carolina State Board of Education v. Swann, 402 U.S. 43, 91 S.Ct. 1284, 28 L.Ed.2d 586 (1971), a case relied on by appellants, because the instant case does not involve a flat prohibition against involuntary busing. 44 The amendments challenged here merely restrict one federal agency's ability to induce busing as a condition of receiving federal funds. Local school officials still may voluntarily employ transportation to desegregate, HEW can refer cases to the Department of Justice for litigation, and private suits may be brought. Thus, the court concluded, all reasonable desegregation methods remain available to school officials and to courts. 12 Judge Sirica similarly found the availability of other desegregation options dispels appellants' second objection. Through desegregation litigation brought by the Department of Justice, the government can avoid supporting illegal discrimination, as prohibited by Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1, 19, 78 S.Ct. 1401, 1410, 3 L.Ed.2d 5 (1958); Kelsey v. Weinberger, 162 U.S.App.D.C. 159, 167-168, 498 F.2d 701, 709-10 (D.C. Cir. 1974), and similar cases. 45 Judge Sirica observed that the litigation would avoid unconstitutional governmental support by assuring that recipients comply with the law. 46 He rejected the claim that litigation would be less rapid than fund termination because the administrative procedures for fund termination are themselves cumbersome and time-consuming. 47 13 Central to the district court's conclusion was its view that neither (amendment) operates by its express terms to foreclose the availability of remedies that may be necessary to guarantee federal rights in given instances. 48 The court explicitly noted it would entertain attacks on the provisions as applied, if further proceedings show the litigation option is not a workable instrument for effecting equal educational opportunities. 49 14