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CASE PAGE: New Jersey Public School
Integration Lawsuit

Latino Action Network vs. the State of New Jersey

Case

Updates

  • August 1, 2025 - In October 2023, the trial court denied the cross-motions for summary judgment, at which point the parties engaged in mediation. Mediation concluded without agreement in the spring of 2025, and plaintiffs filed a motion for leave to appeal the denial of summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs. The New Jersey appellate division granted the plaintiffs' motion for leave to appeal in July 2025. Briefing will occur throughout the fall of 2025. The main legal issue is whether pervasive racial and socioeconomic school segregation in New Jersey public schools violates the state Constitution.

Political & Public Commentary

The New Jersey gubernatorial debate in September 2025 placed school segregation and education affordability at the forefront of the political discussion.

Court & Appeals

The New Jersey Appellate Division formally agreed to hear the school segregation case, marking a critical step toward judicial resolution and immediately increasing political pressure on the issue.

Mediation

In late 2023, the court directed all parties to pursue mediation instead of litigation. This phase marked the first formal attempt to negotiate solutions outside the courtroom, with optimism that dialogue could lead to a statewide desegregation plan.

Major Rulings & Legal Precedent

Key rulings in 2023 highlighted both the state’s failure to address segregation and the legal challenges ahead. Judges set the stage for potential remedies, keeping the focus on achieving meaningful change for New Jersey students.

The Full Story

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.

Case Quick Facts

BACKGROUND

New Jersey’s Public Schools are among the most segregated in the nation due to 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.

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

 

CASE NAME
Known as Latino Action Network vs. the State of New Jersey, the lawsuit specifically challenges the state’s practices that have historically hurt hundreds of thousands of Black and Latino students — a flagrant violation of the law and the State Constitution.

 

UPCOMING

A New Jersey court will hear the case on March 3, 2022 and could decide whether the state must create and implement a school desegregation plan, decide to hold a trial, or dismiss the case entirely.

 

PLAINTIFFS
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. 

 

ATTORNEYS 

Plaintiffs 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. 

 

READ MORE
Latino Action Network vs. the State of New Jersey complaint.

March 3 - Press Release 

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