The ACLU of New Jersey has filed an amicus brief with the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court in the case Latino Action Network v. State of New Jersey. The case centers on racial segregation in public schools and students’ rights.
Plaintiffs first brought the lawsuit in 2018, arguing that the state’s failure to desegregate its schools violates the New Jersey constitution. In 2023, a trial court denied their motion for summary judgment and did not declare New Jersey’s segregated school system unconstitutional. The ACLU-NJ’s new brief challenges several aspects of that decision.
One key issue addressed is the trial court’s requirement that plaintiffs show unconstitutionality across all school districts. The ACLU-NJ argues this sets an improper standard, as systemic constitutional violations can be shown by evidence that certain injuries are representative of broader structural problems rather than requiring proof from every district.
According to the ACLU-NJ, “plaintiffs proved what the law requires: that profound inter-district racial segregation exists among New Jersey schools; that these conditions are pervasive, interconnected, and the foreseeable result of statewide policy choices; and that only state-level actors have the power to remedy them.” The organization contends that demanding proof from every district is inconsistent with legal precedent and undermines constitutional enforcement.
“New Jersey’s shameful history and present landscape of residential segregation have led to an intolerable and unconstitutional system of school segregation throughout the state, with young people bearing the brunt of the harms,” said ACLU-NJ Legal Director Jeanne LoCicero. “It’s crucial that we support the plaintiffs in this case, who are fighting for the equality and dignity of all students in our state, especially those within communities that have historically been marginalized and under-resourced.”
“In Brown v. Board, the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged that segregation is ‘inherently unequal.’ Today, segregated schools are still unequal and still denying students adequate educational opportunities,” said Brown’s Promise Chief Legal Counsel GeDá Jones Herbert. “New Jersey’s own constitution expressly prohibits segregation in schools, yet more than 20 school districts across the state are intensely segregated and even more are segregated. This is patently unconstitutional. All students deserve access to well-resourced, integrated schools that can prepare them for post-secondary success in college or a career of their choice as well as engaged civic participants.”
The ACLU-NJ joins co-amici Brown’s Promise and Georgetown Law’s Racial Equity in Education Law and Policy Clinic in this filing.
The ACLU of New Jersey operates as a civil rights organization focused on protecting individual rights through legal action, advocacy efforts centered on marginalized communities, community outreach statewide, and providing resources such as Know Your Rights guides on topics like transgender rights or interactions with immigration officials. It works to protect freedoms guaranteed by both state and federal constitutions while supporting issues such as voting rights reform.
