Fate is interesting. The day that Alabama won the 2015-2016 national
football title, Gov. Rauner declared that his second-year goal is to take down
courts that order spending on federally-mandated programs. Suppose Alabama had remained racially segregated, as its
governor, George Wallace, insisted. Would Nick Saban win last night’s
championship with an all-white team?
Gov. Wallace lost his battle with federal courts that
ordered integration of the University of Alabama. Vowing never to capitulate to
the courts, Gov. Wallace lost when the U.S. government federalized the state’s National
Guard, and used those soldiers, under federal authority, to forcibly implement
a federal court order. Before that point, he refused four requests from a U.S. Justice
Department official to allow two African-Americans— Vivian Malone and James A.
Hood (pictured)— to enter UA’s Foster Auditorium to register for school. As
reported by the New York Times, “this was in keeping with a campaign pledge
that he would ‘stand in the schoolhouse door’ to prevent a resumption of
desegregation in Alabama’s educational system."
In the summer of 2015, Gov. Rauner blocked funding to variety of
federally-mandated programs, including those that support education and
training for people with developmental disabilities. Now, Gov. Rauner seeks to end
the role of federal courts. See Tom Kacich’s article: Click here.
Gov. Rauner is coming at this from a different angle that
Gov. Wallace. Where both governor agree is on the point — made in Kacich’s
article— that “getting rid of the court orders and consent decrees is ‘good government.’” For more on Gov. Wallace's historic miscalculation in taking on federal courts, click to this New York Times article from 1963: Click here.
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