More broadly, it established the standards the Internal Revenue Service would use to determine the tax-exempt status of private schools based on their segregation policies.
Joe Patterson represented Mississippi, arguing before Judges John Golbold, William Cox, and Dan Russell.
"[2] The court in its judgement included the following criteria to identify a segregation academy:[2] Coffey was aimed specifically at Mississippi.
Parents of Mississippi black children subsequently filed suit to revoke federal tax-exemption status for non-profit segregation academies.
Concurrently, in July 1970, the Internal Revenue Service announced it could "no longer legally justify allowing tax-exempt status to private schools which practice racial discrimination.