Opinion of U.S. District Court Judge Wendell Arthur Garrity

Judge W. Arthur Garrity, Jr. issued this opinion the court case Tallulah Morgan et al. v. James W. Hennigan et al., known as the Boston Schools Desegregation Case. In 1972, parents of African American childrenbrought a class action lawsuit alleging that the Boston School Committee violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by a deliberate policy of racial segregation. Judge Garrity found that the Boston School Committee had intentionally carried out a program of segregation in the Boston Public Schools. The ruling, upheld unanimously by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, ordered the Boston School Committee to formulate a permanent school desegregation plan that addressed student assignment, teacher employment, and facility improvement procedures, as well as the use of busing on a citywide basis. The Boston School Committee failed to present an adequate plan, so the court assumed an active role in the formulation of the desegregation plan and oversaw implementation of court-ordered desegregation in the Boston public schools.
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