Court Opinion

ID: 9477016
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:11:20.208246+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:38.296465
License: Public Domain

JERRE S. WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge,
specially concurring:
I am in agreement with the result reached by the panel in this case. I am also in agreement that the Overton case has been properly dismissed and is not before the Court.
This opinion is written to express my strong interest in a refocussing of the emphasis of the Court’s opinion in the Price case. I would emphasize, and indeed make it the sole basis of the decision, that the injury to the plaintiffs without an injunction was clearly outweighed by the injury the injunction would have caused the AISD only 12 days before the beginning of the school year. The opinion for the Court mentions this ground for the denial of the preliminary injunction only in one brief final paragraph. It deserves the controlling attention. There simply could be no justification for the disruption of the entire school year by an injunction so late in time. The order at issue in this case is limited to elementary schools. The disruption could well have been catastrophic to an effective school year for the elementary schools, admittedly at a highly critical time in the educational life of children. So I agree that the preliminary injunction should not have been issued.
I am concerned about the implied finality with which the majority opinion considers a lack of merit in the claims of the plaintiffs in the Price case. While the hearing was thorough in the context of the time available, the majority opinion virtually forecloses the possibility of appellants proving their case of intentional discrimination. I assume that the testimony of the school superintendent was absolutely honest and sincere. Yet a careful factual, sociological and psychological study might, upon thorough development, be adequate to prove discriminatory intent.
The plaintiffs have the right to undertake such proof now for the next school *1179year. I simply feel that this Court should be totally neutral with respect to the possibilities of such proof. It was not necessary to consider this issue in view of the obvious proper denial of the preliminary injunction because of the time factor involved. The plaintiffs may or may not be able to mount a substantial case undertaking to prove intentional discrimination. But it is unnecessary for us to hint at what the result would be if they do make such an undertaking. They have a right to try to prove their case. While the majority opinion does not deny them that right, it carries a strong implication of little likelihood of success even before they start. I would leave that decision entirely for the future.