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Enforcing Desegregation: A Case Study of Federal District Court Power and Social Change in Macon County Alabama
Author(s) -
Landsberg Brian K.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
law and society review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1540-5893
pISSN - 0023-9216
DOI - 10.1111/lasr.12105
Subject(s) - desegregation , law , power (physics) , political science , supreme court , government (linguistics) , economic justice , caste , public administration , sociology , linguistics , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics
This case study of L ee v. M acon C ounty B oard of E ducation demonstrates that a federal district court in A labama, enforcing B rown v. B oard of E ducation , brought about significant social change despite constraints on the courts. The court's application of B rown played a decisive role in ending the racial caste system in this A labama Black Belt county. The court, by adding the U . S . D epartment of J ustice as a party, overcame constraints that had precluded the executive branch from pursuing school desegregation. Change came through the courts before C ongress legislated against school segregation. Seekers of social change must evaluate the constraints on the courts relative to the constraints on the other branches and levels of government.