United States v. Paradise (1986)
- Docket
- 85-999
- Decided
- 1986-01-01
Summary
Question: Did the one-black-for-one-white promotion scheme violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? Conclusion: In a plurality opinion, the Court upheld the promotion plan. The scheme did not impose an "absolute bar" to white advancement, was narrowly drawn to include only specific ranks in the department, and, according to the four justices who voted to affirm it, was "required in light of the Department's long and shameful record of delay and resistance" in complying with past judicial decisions. It is important to remember that courts had first found the Department's practices unconstitutional in 1972.