Boston Chapter, NAACP v. Beecher

This case is before the court on remand from the Supreme Court, - U.S. -•, 103 S.Ct. 2076, 76 L.Ed.2d 330 for consideration of mootness. The facts and prior proceedings are fully traced in this court’s previous opinion, Boston Chapter, NAACP v. Beecher, 679 F.2d 965 (1st Cir.1982). Since 1975, the Boston police and fire departments have been subject to consent decrees requiring preferential hiring of minorities to relieve the effects of prior discrimination. In 1981, facing proposed fiscal layoffs which would substantially vitiate any progress made under the decrees, plaintiffs sought and…