��ɫtv

The school system has become a focal point in the administration's that reach back to the Civil Rights era. Louisiana state officials say the cases are outdated and no longer needed. In a remarkable turn, they've recently gained support from the U.S. Justice Department, which spent decades fighting for such cases.

The campaign encountered its first major obstacle this month when U.S. District Judge Dee Drell rejected a court filing from Louisiana and the Justice Department aiming to free Concordia from a 1965 lawsuit. That case was brought by Black families who demanded access to the town’s all-white schools.

A number of legal requirements from the case remain in place today, and some families say the court orders are still needed to improve education at the area’s mostly Black schools.

Louisiana and the federal government tried to dismiss the case immediately by saying all remaining parties believe the case is no longer necessary. It was not signed by any families who brought the suit, who are no longer involved.

Drell refused, saying the court can reject such agreements when bigger issues are at stake.

“At the heart of this case is public policy and the protection of others, and the court has been tasked with ensuring the resolution of this matter in accordance with long established legal precedent,” Drell, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, wrote in a Nov. 19 order.

Instead, Drell offered Concordia Parish a hearing to prove it has fully dismantled state-sponsored racial segregation — the traditional route to get such cases dismissed.

The school district and the state appealed that decision in a Tuesday filing. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Justice Department used the same tactic to lift a 1966 order in Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish school district — the judge in that case had been dead for decades — and it signaled plans to have others dismissed later.

Dozens of 1960s school desegregation cases remain in place across Louisiana and the South, including some that are actively being litigated and others that have languished.

The Justice Department has framed the decades-old cases as federal intrusion into local school decisions. Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the department’s civil rights division, previously promised that other cases would “bite the dust.”

___

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s for working with philanthropies, a of supporters and funded coverage areas at .