Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 5, 1990 TAG: 9006050379
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES HIGHER EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Nothing was decided in the 90-minute session with U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser, attorneys from the Justice Department, VMI Foundation Inc., the state attorney general's office and counsel hired by Gov. Douglas Wilder. Several attorneys emerged from the session saying that motions scheduled for the judge's consideration had not been acted upon.
But some attorneys hinted later that the Justice Department might give their clients what they want: Wilder has asked to be dismissed as a defendant in the sex discrimination suit, and the private VMI Foundation Inc. wants to help defend the 150-year-old school from the federal attack.
Benjamin Civiletti, a former U.S. attorney general who has been retained by Wilder, said he was "80 percent sure that we have a very good chance of getting out" of the lawsuit.
Lawyers for the governor and the state Council of Higher Education - which also wants to be dismissed from the case - have 10 days "to agree on the litigation status" of Wilder and the council, papers filed Monday say.
A Justice Department attorney, asked whether Wilder likely would be dismissed from the suit, said, "The motion to dismiss the governor is still pending."
Wilder's attorneys maintain that the governor is not responsible for VMI's admissions policy. He would, they say, "have a role in the remedy" if the school's policy is found to violate the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as the Justice Department contends.
Meanwhile, in a pretrial order, Kiser said the foundation and the VMI Alumni Association "shall be permitted to participate in this lawsuit as a party until further ruling by this court."
The Justice Department has argued that the foundation should not be included in the dispute. "Our position on the foundation is very clear: They should not be part of the case," said Nathaniel Douglas, chief of the education section of the Justice Department's civil rights division.
"We are going to participate until further notice," said William Clineburg, a lawyer from Atlanta whose firm is one of three representing the foundation. "We are now a part of the case."
Kiser also instructed the attorney to meet in Washington on July 13 to determine the undisputed facts in the case, and said that any additional research should be concluded by Oct. 1. A hearing will be set after that, court papers say.
"The judge was trying to bring some order out of chaos," said Griffin Bell, a lawyer for the foundation and U.S. attorney general in the Carter administration.
Last February, state Attorney General Mary Sue Terry and attorneys for the foundation filed papers in U.S. District Court in Roanoke asking that VMI's admissions policy be declared legal and constitutional.
One month later, the Justice Department filed a sex-discrimination lawsuit against the school, naming Wilder, the state council and its director, VMI and the VMI Board of Visitors as defendants.
Since then, federal attorneys have asked Kiser to dismiss the foundation from the case, keep Wilder in the case and rule against VMI to spare the time and expense of a protracted legal battle.
by CNB