Complex Justice: The Case of Missouri v. Jenkins
In 1987 Judge Russell Clark mandated tax increases to help pay for improvements to the Kansas City, Missouri, School District in an effort to lure white students and quality teachers back to the inner-city district. Yet even after increasing employee salaries and constructing elaborate facilities at a cost of more than $2 billion, the district remained overwhelmingly segregated and student achievement remained far below national averages.

Just eight years later the U.S. Supreme Court began reversing these initiatives, signifying a major retreat from Brown v. Board of Education. In Kansas City, African American families opposed to the district court’s efforts organized a takeover of the school board and requested that the court case be closed. Joshua Dunn argues that Judge Clark’s ruling was not the result of tyrannical “judicial activism” but was rather the logical outcome of previous contradictory Supreme Court doctrines. High Court decisions, Dunn explains, necessarily limit the policy choices available to lower court judges, introducing complications the Supreme Court would not anticipate. He demonstrates that the Kansas City case is a model lesson for the types of problems that develop for lower courts in any area in which the Supreme Court attempts to create significant change. Dunn’s exploration of this landmark case deepens our understanding of when courts can and cannot successfully create and manage public policy.
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Complex Justice: The Case of Missouri v. Jenkins
In 1987 Judge Russell Clark mandated tax increases to help pay for improvements to the Kansas City, Missouri, School District in an effort to lure white students and quality teachers back to the inner-city district. Yet even after increasing employee salaries and constructing elaborate facilities at a cost of more than $2 billion, the district remained overwhelmingly segregated and student achievement remained far below national averages.

Just eight years later the U.S. Supreme Court began reversing these initiatives, signifying a major retreat from Brown v. Board of Education. In Kansas City, African American families opposed to the district court’s efforts organized a takeover of the school board and requested that the court case be closed. Joshua Dunn argues that Judge Clark’s ruling was not the result of tyrannical “judicial activism” but was rather the logical outcome of previous contradictory Supreme Court doctrines. High Court decisions, Dunn explains, necessarily limit the policy choices available to lower court judges, introducing complications the Supreme Court would not anticipate. He demonstrates that the Kansas City case is a model lesson for the types of problems that develop for lower courts in any area in which the Supreme Court attempts to create significant change. Dunn’s exploration of this landmark case deepens our understanding of when courts can and cannot successfully create and manage public policy.
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Complex Justice: The Case of Missouri v. Jenkins

Complex Justice: The Case of Missouri v. Jenkins

by Joshua M. Dunn
Complex Justice: The Case of Missouri v. Jenkins

Complex Justice: The Case of Missouri v. Jenkins

by Joshua M. Dunn

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Overview

In 1987 Judge Russell Clark mandated tax increases to help pay for improvements to the Kansas City, Missouri, School District in an effort to lure white students and quality teachers back to the inner-city district. Yet even after increasing employee salaries and constructing elaborate facilities at a cost of more than $2 billion, the district remained overwhelmingly segregated and student achievement remained far below national averages.

Just eight years later the U.S. Supreme Court began reversing these initiatives, signifying a major retreat from Brown v. Board of Education. In Kansas City, African American families opposed to the district court’s efforts organized a takeover of the school board and requested that the court case be closed. Joshua Dunn argues that Judge Clark’s ruling was not the result of tyrannical “judicial activism” but was rather the logical outcome of previous contradictory Supreme Court doctrines. High Court decisions, Dunn explains, necessarily limit the policy choices available to lower court judges, introducing complications the Supreme Court would not anticipate. He demonstrates that the Kansas City case is a model lesson for the types of problems that develop for lower courts in any area in which the Supreme Court attempts to create significant change. Dunn’s exploration of this landmark case deepens our understanding of when courts can and cannot successfully create and manage public policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781469606606
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date: 09/01/2012
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 240
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Joshua M. Dunn is assistant professor of political science at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     ix
Introduction     1
An Even Hollower Hope?     8
From Segregation to Litigation: The Ambiguous Racial History of Missouri and Kansas City     31
Courthouse Magic: Educational Vice Becomes Legal Virtue     57
The Field of Dreams     82
Waking Up: Implementing an Educational Disaster     113
Ambivalence and Anger: The Response of Kansas City's African American Community     139
The Last Days of Desegregation?     159
Conclusion     181
Notes     191
Bibliography     215
Index     221

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“A premier case study of race and education in the 1980s and 1990s.” — Journal of Southern History

“A nicely written volume about a lesser-known case.” — CHOICE

“Enlightening. . . . A highly informative and readable book that nicely blends legal and policy analysis. Complex Justice provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the historical, political, and social issues involved in Missouri v. Jenkins.” — Law & Politics Review

“A masterly job of bringing this complex case to life. . . . Dunn’s refusal to finger a convenient scapegoat forces the reader to confront a number of the disconcerting dilemmas of school desegregation.” — Claremont Review of Books

“Joshua Dunn provides a penetrating and fascinating analysis of the Kansas City school desegregation decision. I thought I knew a lot about it before reading this book, but I learned much of interest here. Dunn’s discussion of the shifting views of local African Americans is particularly illuminating.” — Stephan Thernstrom, Harvard University

“The case of Missouri v. Jenkins is notable because of the exceptionally broad remedy ordered by the federal courts and the vast sums poured into the school district as a result of the lawsuit. It is also notable because of the disappointingly limited results achieved in terms of either meaningful desegregation or improved academic achievement for the intended beneficiaries of the massive legal effort. Dunn tells this ironic tale well and places the events in legal and political context. Complex Justice will prove highly useful to readers in law, legal studies, public policy, and political science.” — David I. Levine, Hastings College of the Law, University of California

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