LDF Decries U.S. Department of Justice Dismissal of Over Fifty Federal School Desegregation Cases

Read a PDF of our statement here.

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a misleading announcement, claiming that it had "ended" more than 50 federal school desegregation cases. The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) decried the deceptive announcement. LDF continues to litigate many of these open school desegregation cases. LDF is disheartened by the DOJ's recent efforts to prematurely end its longstanding involvement in this litigation, despite recent judicial findings of ongoing discrimination and significant evidence of continued barriers to equal educational opportunity in many of the affected school systems.

DOJ's decision to withdraw from these cases does not always mean the end of the underlying cases. For example, litigation remains ongoing in several Louisiana parishes where DOJ has ended its involvement, including St. Martin Parish, where a court recently found intentional discrimination in student discipline, and St. James Parish, where a court recently ordered the desegregation of a 95% Black school. LDF is scheduled to go to trial this fall in St. Mary Parish to address recent allegations of discrimination. LDF has also fought to stop DOJ's improper dismissal of cases in other districts. And LDF continues to represent Black students and their parents in open desegregation class actions in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and elsewhere.

LDF President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson issued the following statement:

"The Justice Department's decision to end its involvement in more than 50 longstanding school desegregation cases represents an indefensible retreat from the federal government's responsibility to ensure that the promise of Brown v. Board of Education is realized in classrooms across the country. Today, state-sanctioned segregation and discrimination remain a real and ongoing problem for countless Black children. For generations, civil rights advocates, families, and students have fought to overcome these systemic challenges and dismantle the systems that separate children by race and deprive Black children of equal access to high-quality educational resources. This latest step by the DOJ aligns with the Trump administration's overall crusade against the civil rights of Black people and its weaponization of enforcement authority to reverse progress. At a moment when discrimination and educational inequality remain persistent realities, the federal government should be strengthening its commitment to educational opportunity, not abandoning it.

"The federal government has a continuing obligation to protect hard-won progress and ensure that school districts do not backslide. At the same time, we as a nation have a broader responsibility to resist educational segregation and barriers to equal educational opportunity wherever we find them. The work of Brown remains to ensure every child has an equal opportunity to learn, thrive, and realize their full potential. That work is far from finished, and we will continue fighting in courtrooms and elsewhere."

Read more about the state of segregation in public education.

Learn more about LDF's work.

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation's first civil rights legal organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF's archive. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.