In May 2018, a coalition of civil rights, faith, and social justice groups, along with individual children and their parents/guardians, filed a lawsuit against the State of New Jersey to end its long history of segregated public schools.

Known as Latino Action Network vs. the State of New Jersey, the lawsuit specifically challenges state laws, policies and practices that require students to attend schools in the geographic locations where they live, denying students in lower-income, isolated areas — who are overwhelmingly Black and Latino — access to the benefits of a diverse education.

The lawsuit cites research, which shows that segregation in the state is “among the worst in the country” and has hurt young Black and Latino students for decades by denying them opportunities to become successful in their lives. It goes on to say that “these segregative State laws, policies and practices also violate those students’ constitutional rights under other provisions of the New Jersey Constitution that prohibit racial segregation in public schools and guarantee all New Jersey residents the equal protection of the laws.”

In the complaint, plaintiffs argue that segregation does not only impact Black and Latino students, but white students, as well. These students face greater risks of adopting prejudicial views due to the lack of diverse interaction, creating “a two-way system of racial stereotyping, stigma, fear, and hostility that obscures individuality and denies all concerned the recognized benefits of diversity in education.”

Plaintiffs include nine young New Jersey residents and their parents/guardians, as well as the Latino Action Network, NAACP New Jersey State Conference, Latino Coalition, Urban League of Essex County, and the United Methodist Church. They are represented by Lawrence Lustberg and Ethan Kisch of Gibbons, P. C., as well as by Michael Stein and Roger Plawker of Pashman Stein Walder Hayden. 

The New Jersey court case was on March 3, 2022 and we are waiting for a decision whether the state must create and implement a school desegregation plan, decide to hold a trial, or dismiss the case entirely.