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Lead plaintiff Milo Sheff at the time of the 1996 filing and in a recent photograph. Read the case profile >>

New Agreement in Hartford Desegregation Case - Courant Urges Approval (4/21/2008)
The ACLU, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Center for Children’s Advocacy and cooperating attorneys have struck an agreement with the state of Connecticut to implement compliance with a longstanding order from the state Supreme Court to desegregate Hartford public schools. The agreement, the latest stage in the case of Sheff v. O’Neill, for the first time requires the state to create a detailed roadmap to follow in its effort to end the racial segregation faced by Hartford’s minority schoolchildren. The Hartford Courant has urged the legislature to take action to approve the settlement, citing the numerous benefits of a diverse education.
Read the ACLU press release >>
Read The Hartford Courant's call to action >>

Lead plaintiff Melvin Harris with his parents

In June of 2007, the Supreme Court of the United States delivered a devastating blow to voluntary K-12 school integration programs in its decision in the Seattle/Louisville cases, but there are still options for quality, integrated schools. Recent manuals from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, and the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles provide valuable information about how school districts and communities can continue to promote diversity and address racial isolation in education.
Read more about the ACLU's efforts to promote school integration >>

Plaintiffs with ACLU lawyers the night the settlement was reached.

Settlement Approved in Case Alleging Discrimination Against Native American Students in South Dakota (12/10/2007)
A federal district court judge has approved a settlement in a class action lawsuit alleging discrimination against Native American children enrolled in the Winner School District. The ACLU is now working with the Winner/Ideal Native American community and the District to meet the settlement's goals. Learn More About the Case>>

ACLU And Civil Rights Lawyers Strike Agreement To Desegregate Hartford Public Schools (04/04/2008)
HARTFORD - The American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the Center for Children’s Advocacy and cooperating attorneys struck an agreement today with the state of Connecticut to implement compliance with a longstanding order from the state Supreme Court to desegregate Hartford public schools. The agreement, the latest stage in the case of Sheff v. O’Neill, for the first time requires the state to create a detailed roadmap to follow in its effort to end the racial segregation faced by Hartford’s minority schoolchildren.

Dismal High School Graduation Rates Violate Florida Constitution, Says ACLU Lawsuit (03/18/2008)
WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- Charging that shamefully low high school graduation rates demonstrate a violation of students’ constitutional right to a high quality education, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a first-of-its-kind class action lawsuit today against the Palm Beach County School District. It is estimated that as many as one in three Palm Beach County students does not graduate on time with a regular diploma, a figure that is well below both the state and national averages. This case is the first legal challenge in the country that focuses on the issue of low graduation rates and that requires a school district to graduate more of its students.

ACLU Sues Over Failed Privately-Run Alternative School In Atlanta (03/11/2008)
ATLANTA – In a case with national implications, the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Georgia filed a class action lawsuit today against the Atlanta Independent School System (AISS) and Community Education Partners (CEP) for violating students’ constitutional right to an adequate public education. CEP is a for-profit corporation paid nearly $7 million a year by the city to run its alternative school, which is among the most dangerous and lowest performing schools in Georgia.

ACLU of Oklahoma Challenges Anti-Civil Rights Ballot Measure (03/07/2008)
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma voters filed a protest today before the state Supreme Court challenging irregularities and questionable practices in the collection of signatures by the so-called Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative. The initiative is one of a series of anti-affirmative action ballot measures that California businessman Ward Connerly and his organization known as the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) have spearheaded across the country.

Settlement Approved in Case Alleging School Discrimination (12/11/2007)
WINNER, SD – A federal judge today entered a consent decree to enforce an agreement between the Winner/Ideal Native American community and the Winner School District that settles a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of Native American students by the American Civil Liberties Union. The case, Antoine et al v. Winner School District, charged that the school district disproportionately targeted Native American students for disciplinary action, maintained an educational environment hostile toward Native American families, and forced students to write out confessions for school misconduct to be used in juvenile and criminal prosecutions. The school district denied the allegations in the complaint.

Preserving Integration Options for Latino Children: A Manual for Educators, Civil Rights Leaders, and the Community (02/01/2008)
This manual from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles (CRP) describes the impact of the recent Supreme Court ruling in the Seattle/Louisville cases and outlines viable options for promoting racial diversity in schools in the wake of this decision.

Still Looking to the Future: Voluntary K-12 School Integration - A Manual for Parents, Educators and Advocates (01/11/2008)
This Manual, a joint project of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles (CRP), provides valuable guidance and information about how communities and school districts can promote racial diversity and address racial isolation in schools nationwide. This Second Edition of the Manual is being issued on the heels of the Supreme Court's June 2007 decision in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, which limited the ability of school districts to take race into account in achieving these goals. More information is available on the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's website at http://www.naacpldf.org/.

Plaintiffs' Op-Ed on Sheff and School Integration (07/29/2007)

Criminalizing the Classroom: The Over-Policing of New York City Schools (03/18/2007)
This report documents the excesses of the New York City school policing program and offers recommendations for reform.

Hate Speech on Campus (12/31/1994)
ACLU Q&A on hate speech on university campuses

Sheff v. O'Neill - Stipulation and Proposed Order (04/04/2008)

Cantrell v. Granholm Decision (03/18/2008)
The ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense fund and others filed suit against Michigan's Proposal 2, a ban on affirmative action, in December of 2006. A federal judge dismissed the suit.

Schroeder v. Palm Beach County School Board - Class Action Complaint (03/18/2008)

Complaint in Harris et al v Atlanta Independent School System (03/11/2008)

Plaintiffs' Motion for Order to Enforce Judgment and Obtain a Court-Ordered Remedy (11/02/2007)

Letter from the ACLU Asking the House Committee on Education and Labor to Oppose Any Discriminatory Amendment to the College Opportunity and Affordability Act that Could Force Accreditation of Universities that Engage in Discrimination (11/14/2007)

Profiles of Kids at Risk - Atlanta, GA (02/26/2008)

Integration of Public Schools (02/08/2007)

Progress Toward Desegregation in Metropolitan Hartford (08/03/2004)

50 Years Later: Brown v. Board of Education (05/17/2004)
Fifty years ago in the watershed opinion Brown v. Board of Education, Chief Justice Earl Warren, on behalf of the U.S. Supreme Court, declared, "In the field of public education, the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

Fast Facts About Affirmative Action and the So-Called "Civil Rights" Initiatives (04/04/2008)
This fact sheet, a joint project of the ACLU Racial Justice Program, ACLU Human Rights Program and the African American Policy Forum, debunks common myths about affirmative action and provides basic information about the deceptive "civil rights" initiatives being forwarded in 5 states this fall 2008. Learn more about the most common myths about affirmative action at www.aapf.org/focus.

Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education (10/13/2006)
The Court rejected the constitutionality of school district plans in Seattle and Louisville that used race as a factor in student assignment in an effort to address racial segregation in K-12 schools. DECIDED

Harris et al. v. Atlanta Independent School System (03/11/2008)
A class action lawsuit against the Atlanta Independent School System and Community Education Partners (CEP) for violating students’ constitutional right to an adequate public education.

Sheff v. O'Neill (02/09/2007)
A groundbreaking school desegregation case in Hartford, Connecticut.

Antoine v. Winner School District (03/28/2006)
The ACLU recently settled this lawsuit, which alleged discrimination against Native American students in a mostly-white school district in South Dakota. The ACLU is now working with the community and the defendant school district to implement changes in the district's schools.