25-year-old desegregation case ends

A federal judge in Montgomery has ended a 25-year-old desegregation case against the state, ruling that vestiges of racial disparities in the higher education system have been eliminated.

U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy approved agreements settling the case, which has so far generated $210 million in state funds for desegregation.

In his order, Murphy said the state, its historically white universities and other defendants had eliminated traces of segregation “to the extent practicable and consistent with sound educational practice.”