© 1991 by CSF Associates Inc.
The Limits of Judicial Desegregation Remedies after Missouri v. Jenkins
University of Missouri Kansas City
How far can federal courts go to remedy unconstitutional segregation? In Missouri v. Jenkins in 1990, the U. S. Supreme Court appeared to add new taxing powers to the existing tools already available to the judiciary. By a 5–4 vote, the Court affirmed court-ordered taxation to fund an elaborate and expensive desegregation plan for the Kansas City, Missouri, School District. This article examines that decision, how it developed, what it said, how it was received, and, most important, what its long-term significance may be. We argue that the "new" judicial taxing authority sanctioned in the decision may not prove nearly as important as at first anticipated In the long run, Missouri v. Jenkins may prove most significant for the questions about desegregation remedies raised by Justice Anthony Kennedy in a dissenting opinion. Those questions could presage a more skeptical Court outlook on substantive school desegregation remedies, at least where those remedies call for additional public funding, as well as greater Court deference to the outcomes of state-local political processes.