Connealy, Dept. Robert V. Broom, R. Gerald P. This school desegregation case was filed by the United States on August 10, , under the authority of 42 U. Jurisdiction is also present under 28 U. The plaintiff's complaint alleges that the defendants have engaged in racial discrimination in the operation of the Omaha Public Schools in violation of Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The defendants deny that the Omaha Public Schools have been operated in a manner which discriminates against any students on the basis of race, and affirm the School District's adherence to a racially neutral neighborhood school assignment policy. The plaintiff's complaint was accompanied by a motion for a preliminary injunction. A full evidentiary hearing was held, and the motion was denied, United States v. Thereafter, certain black children attending the Omaha Public Schools and their parents, representing a class of all other similarly situated black children and their parents, were permitted to intervene as plaintiffs in this lawsuit under Rule 24 b , Fed.
The trial of this case was begun on March 4, , and concluded on March 20, A schedule for the preparation of post-trial briefs and proposed findings of fact was established, and the entire matter was submitted to the Court on June 5, The Omaha Public Schools have never been operated under a statutorily or constitutionally required dual system.
Therefore, the legal principles upon which claims with respect to this school system must be resolved are those set forth by the Supreme Court in Keyes v.
School District No. Under Keyes, a constitutional violation is found where:. There is no question here that the actions of the defendants constitute state action. Nor is it open to doubt that there is a substantial degree of racial imbalance within some of the Omaha Public Schools. The issue upon which this litigation is focused is whether the racial imbalance has been intentionally caused or maintained by the defendants.
