Stell v. Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education

Ralph Stell and other Black public school students (plaintiffs) filed a class-action suit, seeking to enjoin the Savanna-Chatham County Board of Education (defendant) from continuing to operate separate public schools for Black children and White children. White public school children intervened, asserting that the separate school systems were necessitated not only because of race, but because of differences in Black and White students that were of such magnitude that it was not possible for the children to learn together in the same classrooms. The White students alleged that integrating the schools would seriously impede the educational opportunities of students of both races and bring serious psychological harm. The White students presented the testimony of a professor who reviewed various studies with the district court, which suggested that integration in education increased racial hostility and disciplinary issues in classrooms. At the close of evidence, Stell and the other plaintiffs renewed a previous objection to the intervenors’ evidence as not relevant and moved to strike the evidence because this case occurred after Brown v. Board of Education, in which the Supreme Court had ruled that segregation harmed Black children. Before ruling on Stell’s objection, the federal district court assessed whether the relevant portion of Brown was a factual finding that the district court did not have to follow or a conclusion of law.