By Misty Castile | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – A federal desegregation case involving the Bossier Parish School Board moved closer to an end Monday after the remaining parties filed a joint stipulation seeking to dismiss the litigation with prejudice, potentially bringing more than six decades of court oversight to a close.
The filing, submitted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Bossier Parish School Board in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, relies on a recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit decision involving Concordia Parish. It argues that because the only remaining parties have agreed to dismiss the case, the litigation should end.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 1964 and has remained under federal court oversight for more than 60 years.
According to the filing, the only remaining parties are the United States and the Bossier Parish School Board. Attorneys for the original plaintiffs told the court the original parent plaintiffs have died and they have been unable to contact the individuals who were minors when the lawsuit was filed. The filing says their signatures are not required because they are no longer parties to the case.
The filing also notes the court previously determined the case is not maintained as a class action and that the original plaintiffs ceased active participation decades ago, leaving the litigation to proceed between the United States and the school board.
Attorney General Liz Murrill said the filing follows the Fifth Circuit’s recent Concordia Parish decision, which she said reaffirmed that federal desegregation cases should end once all remaining parties agree to dismiss them.
“It’s long past time for these old consent decrees to come to an end,” Murrill said in a statement. “These decades-old cases are expensive, ineffective, and they take power away from local communities. It’s time to return that authority where it belongs.”
Bossier Parish Superintendent Jason Rowland called the filing “a monumental day in Bossier Parish history.”
“Dismissal of the case allows us the freedom to make our own decisions that are in the best interest of all students, staff, and our community, while keeping in mind the history of the past 61 years,” Rowland said.
The filing comes weeks after the 5th Circuit ruled that federal court oversight of the Concordia Parish School Board should end. Federal desegregation cases involving the DeSoto Parish and Plaquemines Parish school systems have also been dismissed in recent years.