Testy Truce

Louisiana school compromise

The Buckeye Three they may always be, but unless the rebel schoolgirls from Louisiana get a reprieve, which is unlikely, they probably will not return to the all-white rural high school from which they got their name.

That was the result of a showdown last week between two judges who have been waning since November over a desegregation plan for Rapides Parish: Federal Judge Nauman Scott, who devised it, and State Judge Richard Lee, who helped the girls fight a transfer from Buckeye High to racially mixed Jones Street School. In defiance of the integration order, Lee sent state troopers to escort the students to Buckeye and even did the job himself for four days. In a two-hour session in his courtroom, Scott stressed that he would not retreat on the desegregation plan; he said it would be unfair to the 322 whites already at Jones Street School if the holdouts remained at Buckeye. But Scott also dropped contempt of court charges that could have meant heavy fines for the trio's parents, Buckeye officials and Lee. Said Scott: "I think it would be wise to forget this whole thing."

Scott ruled that the girls--Lynda McNeal, Michelle LaBorde and Ramona Carbo--could get public school credit for the past semester only if they finish the year at Jones Street. When Lee asked that they be allowed to stay longer at Buckeye, Scott replied: "I don't think you can ask any more from this court, and it won't give any more." For most of the 100 spectators packed into the court and the 300 demonstrators outside, this Louisiana compromise was not much to cheer about. qed

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