…A family cannot tell from it whether its district is included. Court records say more. The Department's reason Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said "we are ending prolonged federal oversight…
Read record summary
On September 24 the Justice Department (DOJ) announced 'the dismissal of more than fifty desegregation cases' dating from the 1960s and 70s, which it says it seeks to end once it concludes a school district has achieved unitary status. The release names only two places, Waterbury, Connecticut, and Flagler County, Florida, and has no list, so families cannot tell from it whether their district's case has ended. Federal court records show both named cases were dismissed months earlier: a judge declared Flagler County unitary on March 4, 2026, and another declared Waterbury's school board unitary on May 22, 2026. In Alabama, filings in a 1963 statewide suit show it being closed one district at a time: St. Clair County's case is listed as closed, Tuscumbia City's was dismissed on July 7, and joint motions for Franklin County, Fayette County, Marion County and Athens City were docketed between August 31 and September 18. In Marion County the government says the district's lawyer was not responsive, and the State of Alabama joined the motion instead. The release does not say how many of the fifty-plus a judge has ruled on.
Matched in title, summary, source, article text