Justice Department Closes 60-Year-Old Tennessee Desegregation Case

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division announced today the dismissalLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. of a desegregation case in Dyersburg, Tennessee, concluding a matter that has remained on the docket for sixty years.

In 1966, the United States filed a complaint against the Dyersburg Board of Education to challenge racially segregated public education in Dyersburg City Schools in violation of the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Court approved the Board's desegregation plan, and the Justice Department spent sixty years monitoring for compliance.

After a thorough review, the Civil Rights Division determined that Dyersburg City Schools no longer operates as a segregated system and has eliminated the vestiges of prior de jure segregation. On Feb. 11, the Court formally declared that the district had achieved unitary status and, on Feb. 12, dismissed the case with prejudice.

"Compliance means closure. When school districts comply in good faith with court orders to eliminate the vestiges of past discrimination, the federal government has no legitimate reason to continue monitoring," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "After sixty years of federal control, it's time for Dyersburg City Schools to redirect the time, energy, and taxpayer dollars spent on reporting requirements to directly improving education in the community."

"I am pleased to join in this long overdue dismissal, and I commend the Dyersburg City Schools for their diligent compliance and achievement of unitary status," said U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee. "The long-standing good faith efforts of the school district have demonstrated decades of improvement, and local control is best suited to continue to address the best interests of students, parents, and faculty and staff."

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