According to the program's director, Ms. Theresa J. Woodson , the program allows urban-minority students to attend six participating suburban schools in an effort to "reduce minority isolation" and "encourage intercultural learning". [Note 1]

          The program was instituted voluntarily by the Rochester City School District in 1965 to combat the effects of what they call "de facto segregation", i.e., segregation and racial isolation which results from voluntary choices such as housing patterns. This is also sometimes known as "voluntary segregation". Note that the Rochester schools have never been charged with actual racial segregation, called "de jure segregation", i.e., racial segregation and racial separatism resulting from, for example, governmental edicts, laws or other policies restricting the rights and freedoms of certain races and ethnicities.

Jessica Haak Index:

          From 1996 to 1998 Jessica Haak's parents tried to get her transferred from the Rochester City School District (RCSD) -- the inner city schools which are dominated by minorities -- to a better, suburban school. Up until 1998 Jessica's transfer request was refused because the transfer program had no open slots.

          The case was heard by Chief Federal District Judge David G. Larimer of the Western District of New York.

          In his written opinion, Judge Larimer noted, among other things, that the racial criteria utilized by Rochester's Urban-Suburban Interdistrict Transfer Program for selecting transfer students violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Judge Larimer noted that when certain races are given preference while others are barred completely, such a policy "tends to promote racial stereotypes rather than to eliminate them."

          Larimer also wrote that "The basic issue before the Court is whether a governmental body -- a school district -- can deny a child the opportunity to participate in a school-sponsored program on account of her race. The answer must be 'no.'"

          The defendants presented their arguments to the court on Sept. 30, 1999. On May 11, 2000 the appeals court ruled against Jessica Haak:

"We hold that plaintiffs (Jessica Haak and her parents) have not met the requisite heightened standard for issuance of a mandatory injunction and, therefore, [we] vacate the injunction and remand for a full trial on the merits. [Judge Larimer's lower court decision is] vacated and remanded."

The appeals court voted to send the Jessica Haak case back to the Western District Court of New York [Judge Larimer] for a full trial, thus effectively postponing the death of this constitutionally suspect program by several more years at least.

Liberal, Pro-Quota Judges:   The Second Circuit Court of Appeals panel consisted of three judges, two of whom were appointed by Bill Clinton. The two Clinton-appointed judges wrote the majority opinion in the appeal, which effectively endorsed race-based school assignments.

          The third judge on the appeals panel, a Reagan appointee, dissented. In his dissenting opinion Judge Roger J. Miner wrote "There is absolutely no evidence that the program has succeeded in accomplishing its purposes after a full 35 years of existence."

Friend of the Court Briefs in Support Rochester Race-Based Transfers:  Two renowned pro-racial-preference activist groups filed "friend of the court briefs" (amicus curae briefs) supporting Rochester's racial transfer program:

• Bill Lann Lee, Bill Clinton's illegally appointed Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. submitted a brief arguing for the continuation of race-based student assignments. (Before going to work for Bill Clinton, Mr. Lee was the western regional director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.)

• Also, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.,Washington, DC filed a lengthy brief in support of a continuation of race-based student assignments in Rochester.

          In 1965, when Rochester's race-based student transfer program was implemented, approximately 25% of the students in Rochester's city schools were minorities.

Note 2: Adversity.Net correspondence with white teachers from the Rochester school system.
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