Ayers v. Thompson
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
358 F.3d 356 (2004)

- Written by Catherine Cotovsky, JD
Facts
African American citizens (citizens) (plaintiffs) filed a class-action lawsuit against the state of Mississippi (state) (defendant) to desegregate the state’s higher-education system. The court certified the citizens as a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2), and the citizens pursued the action, seeking only injunctive and declaratory relief for the class. No separate claims for individual relief were made. After 30 years of litigation, the citizens and the state reached a settlement agreement, which was approved by the district court after a hearing on the fairness of the agreement. Several of the citizens appealed the district court’s approval of the settlement and also moved to opt out of the class so they could seek individual relief. The district court denied the citizens’ motion, and the citizens appealed that ruling as well.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (King, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.