The Use of Research in the Seattle and Jefferson County Desegregation Cases: Connecting Social Science and the Law

Abstract

On June 28, 2007, a plurality of the United States Supreme Court held that two public school desegregation plans, which relied in part on racial classifications, violated the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This article provides an overview of the cases and discusses the ways in which examples of social science research were used and interpreted by Justices on both sides of the issue. We also describe some differences in perspective between social scientific and legal traditions and offer insights about connections between these perspectives in this and future work.

When and How Do Students Benefit From Ethnic Diversity in Middle School?

“…The most recent Supreme Court case in 2007 ( Parents Involved in Community Schools , 2007) struck down the use of such policies to achieve diversity in the public schools of Seattle, Washington and Louisville, Kentucky. That Court did not see K‐12 diversity as a compelling interest, and they questioned whether social science research had adequately justified the use of race conscious policies (Tropp, Smith, & Crosby, ). One antidote to such views is methodologically rigorous research with multiple racial/ethnic groups that tests hypotheses about the benefits and challenges of school diversity for all youth .…”

Integrated Schooling, Life Course Outcomes, and Social Cohesion in Multiethnic Democratic Societies

“…Since the publication of Allport’s (1954) book, an enormous body of social science literature on contact theory has confirmed his model (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006; Schofield, 1991; Schofield & Eurich-Fulcer, 2002; Tropp, Smith, & Crosby, 2007). For example, the psychologists Thomas Pettigrew and Linda Tropp (2006) conducted a meta-analysis of social science research about intergroup contact across a variety of sites.…”

SPSSI and Racial Research

“…05-908, 127 U.S. 2738 2007] (Greenhouse, 2007). SPSSI leaders Linda Tropp (elected to Council, 2004), Amy Smith (a lawyer), and Faye Crosby (president, 1991-1992) describe these cases in detail to show how social science evidence can be both used effectively and abused by the legal system (Tropp, Smith & Crosby, 2007). A five-judge majority held narrowly tailored desegregation plans of these two school districts to be violations of the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment.…”