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Norwood v. Harrison

Supreme Court of the United States · 1973 · Constitutional Law

Constitutional LawEqual ProtectionState Aid to Private SchoolsRacial Discrimination in EducationEqual Protection Clausestate actionprivate discriminationtextbook loans

Facts

Mississippi operated a long-standing program under which the State purchased textbooks and lent them free of charge to students in public and private schools. By 1970, large numbers of students in recently formed, virtually all-white private nonsectarian schools were receiving state-owned textbooks, and the District Court found that 34,000 students at 107 all-white private schools were participating. Appellants alleged that some private schools excluded students on the basis of race and that the State, by supplying textbooks to students attending such schools, was providing direct aid to racially segregated education. The District Court nevertheless sustained the program, emphasizing the statute's original nonsegregationist purpose, the fact that books were lent to students rather than schools, and its finding that Mississippi's public schools were already unitary.

Issue

Whether the Equal Protection Clause permits Mississippi to lend state-purchased textbooks to students attending private schools that practice racial discrimination. More specifically, the question was whether this form of tangible state assistance could constitutionally be extended without regard to whether the recipient private school maintained discriminatory admissions policies.

Rule

A State may not grant tangible financial aid such as free textbooks to private schools that practice racial discrimination when that aid has a significant tendency to facilitate, reinforce, and support the discrimination. The Constitution does not require a State to subsidize private schools, and the fact that aid is formally directed to students rather than schools does not avoid constitutional scrutiny when the aid materially benefits the discriminatory educational enterprise.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Colorado runs a statewide program that purchases algebra and biology textbooks and lends them without charge to students in public and private schools. One participating private academy in Colorado Springs openly denies admission to Latino applicants. The books are ordered by the academy each semester and shipped directly to the school for student use.

If parents of public-school students challenge the textbook loans to that academy under the Equal Protection Clause, which is the strongest argument that the loans are unconstitutional?

Explanation. The governing rule is that a State may not provide tangible financial aid to a private school practicing racial discrimination when the aid has a significant tendency to facilitate, reinforce, or support that discrimination. Textbooks count as basic educational tools and therefore as meaningful aid to the school enterprise itself, even if formally distributed to students.