Spencer v. Kugler

Spencer v. Kugler (1972), a relatively minor case that the Supreme Court did not address on its merits, involved a challenge to New Jersey's practice of aligning school district lines with municipal boundaries. The plaintiffs claimed that the practice led to schools with disproportionate numbers of Black students and was therefore a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In the initial round of litigation, the federal trial court in New Jersey refused to grant the relief sought by the plaintiff parents. The U.S. Supreme Court, with Justice Douglas dissenting, summarily affirmed the opinion of the three-judge panel, refusing to find that there was segregation of Black students from White students in the schools. The plaintiffs ...