Los Angeles Unified School District v. Los Angeles Branch Naacp

The NAACP brought this action against a group of state and local educational authorities, alleging unconstitutional segregation in the Los Angeles public schools. The three local defendants, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Board of Edu cation of the City of Los Angeles, and the Superintendent of Schools, moved for summary judgment on the ground that the present suit was barred by the adjudication of an identical claim before the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in Crawford v. Board of Education, (No. C822854). The district court denied the motion, 518 F.Supp. 1053 , and certified this interlocutory appeal. We reverse and remand for such further proceedings as are consistent with this opinion.

I.

FACTS

In 1963, the California Supreme Court held in a unanimous decision that school boards are under an obligation to remedy racial segregation in the public schools, regardless of the cause of such segregation. Jackson v. Pasadena City School District, 59 Cal.2d 876, 881 , 382 P.2d 878, 881-82 , 31 Cal.Rptr. 606, 609-10 (1963).

Soon thereafter, Crawford was filed as a class action on behalf of black school children in the Los Angeles Unified School District, seeking…