What was the opinion of Brown v . Board of Education?
Kentucky (1908) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality.
What amendment was used in Brown vs Board of Education?
The equal portection clause of the 14th amendment was used as the basis for the decision in both brown v. Board of education and Hernandez v. Texas
What was the outcome of Brown v . Board of Education?
The Supreme Court's opinion in the Brown v. Board of Education case of 1954 legally ended decades of racial segregation in America's public schools. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case.
Why did Brown vs Board of Education happen?
This had allowed for separate but equal public facilities, including public schools in the United States. Declaring that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal, the Brown v. Board decision helped break the back of state-sponsored segregation, and provided a spark to the American civil rights movement.
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Who argued against Brown vs Board of Education?
Marshall personally argued the case before the Court. Although he raised a variety of legal issues on appeal, the most common one was that separate school systems for blacks and whites were inherently unequal, and thus violate the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
What was the main argument of Brown v Board?
They argued that such segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The plaintiffs were denied relief in the lower courts based on Plessy v. Ferguson, which held that racially segregated public facilities were legal so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.
Who argued for Brown?
Brown v. Board of Education was argued on December 9, 1952. The attorney for the plaintiffs was Thurgood Marshall, who later became the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court (1967–91).
What were the two sides of Brown vs Board of Education?
They argued that keeping black students separate from white students violated the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Brown v. Board of Education was a consolidated case, meaning that several related cases were combined to be heard before the Supreme Court.
Why did Brown sue the Board of Education?
The Brown family, along with twelve other local black families in similar circumstances, filed a class action lawsuit against the Topeka Board of Education in a federal court arguing that the segregation policy of forcing black students to attend separate schools was unconstitutional.
Why did Brown vs Board of Education go to the Supreme Court?
The federal district court dismissed his claim, ruling that the segregated public schools were "substantially" equal enough to be constitutional under the Plessy doctrine. Brown appealed to the Supreme Court, which consolidated and then reviewed all the school segregation actions together.
Who was the lawyer who represented Brown?
The U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, was bundled with four related cases and a decision was rendered on May 17, 1954. Three lawyers, Thurgood Marshall (center), chief counsel for the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund and lead attorney on the Briggs case, with George E. C. Hayes (left) and James M.
Was Brown vs Board of Education successful?
The legal victory in Brown did not transform the country overnight, and much work remains. But striking down segregation in the nation's public schools provided a major catalyst for the civil rights movement, making possible advances in desegregating housing, public accommodations, and institutions of higher education.
What was the majority opinion of Brown vs Board of Education?
Board of Education case of 1954 legally ended decades of racial segregation in America's public schools. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional.
What was the majority opinion of Brown vs Board of Education?
Board of Education case of 1954 legally ended decades of racial segregation in America's public schools. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional.
What is the main argument of segregationists?
The case for the defenders of segregation rested on four arguments: The Constitution did not require white and African American children to attend the same schools. Social separation of blacks and whites was a regional custom; the states should be left free to regulate their own social affairs.
What was the Brown vs Board of Education quizlet?
The ruling of the case "Brown vs the Board of Education" is, that racial segregation is unconstitutional in public schools. This also proves that it violated the 14th amendment to the constitution, which prohibits the states from denying equal rights to any person.
What was the defense in Brown v. Board of Education?
In May 1954, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous 9–0 decision in favor of the Browns. The Court ruled that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal", and therefore laws that impose them violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Who was the plaintiff in the Brown v. Board of Education case?
In the case that would become most famous, a plaintiff named Oliver Brown filed a class-action suit against the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, in 1951, after his daughter, Linda Brown, was denied entrance to Topeka’s all-white elementary schools.
Who was the chief attorney for Brown v. Board of Education?
Board of Education of Topeka . Thurgood Marshall, the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, served as chief attorney for the plaintiffs.
What states acted in accordance with the verdict?
While Kansas and some other states acted in accordance with the verdict, many school and local officials in the South defied it. In one major example, Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas called out the state National Guard to prevent Black students from attending high school in Little Rock in 1957.
What was the first act of desegregation?
Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , backed by enforcement by the Justice Department, began the process of desegregation in earnest. This landmark piece of civil rights legislation was followed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
What was Jim Crow's law?
The ruling constitutionally sanctioned laws barring African Americans from sharing the same buses, schools and other public facilities as whites —known as “Jim Crow” laws —and established the “separate but equal” doctrine that would stand for the next six decades.
When did Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka come to the Supreme Court?
When Brown’s case and four other cases related to school segregation first came before the Supreme Court in 1952, the Court combined them into a single case under the name Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka .
When was the Separate But Equal doctrine first ruled?
Separate But Equal Doctrine. In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that racially segregated public facilities were legal, so long as the facilities for Black people and whites were equal.
When was Brown v. Board of Education ruled unconstitutional?
Judgment of May 31, 1955, in Brown v. Board of Education (Brown II) – a year after the ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional – directing that schools be desegregated "with all deliberate speed"
What was the Board of Education case?
Board of Education case of 1954 legally ended decades of racial segregation in America's public schools. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional.
Why was the Supreme Court decision to hear the Harry Briggs case important?
In 1952 the Supreme Court agreed to hear all five cases collectively. This grouping was significant because it represented school segregation as a national issue , not just a southern one. Thurgood Marshall, one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs (he argued the Briggs case), and his fellow lawyers provided testimony from more than 30 social scientists affirming the deleterious effects of segregation on Black and white children. These arguments were similar to those alluded to in the Dissenting Opinion of Judge Waites Waring in Harry Briggs, Jr., et al. v. R. W. Elliott, Chairman, et al. (shown above).
What states were involved in the segregation of elementary schools?
Five separate cases were filed in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware: Oliver Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas, et al.
Why was the Bolling vs Sharpe case argued?
Because Washington, D.C., is a Federal territory governed by Congress and not a state, the Bolling v. Sharpe case was argued as a fifth amendment violation of "due process." The fourteenth amendment only mentions states, so this case could not be argued as a violation of "equal protection," as were the other cases. When a District of Columbia parent, Gardner Bishop, unsuccessfully attempted to get 11 African-American students admitted into a newly constructed white junior high school, he and the Consolidated Parents Group filed suit against C. Melvin Sharpe, president of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia. Charles Hamilton Houston, the NAACP's special counsel, former dean of the Howard University School of Law, and mentor to Thurgood Marshall, took up the Bolling case.
What was the NAACP's goal in 1909?
In its early years its primary goals were to eliminate lynching and to obtain fair trials for Black Americans. By the 1930s, however, the activities of the NAACP began focusing on the complete integration of American society. One of their strategies was to force admission of Black Americans into universities at the graduate level where establishing separate but equal facilities would be difficult and expensive for the states.
What was the case of Moton High School?
English class at Moton High School, a school for Black students, one of several photographs entered as evidence in the case Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia, which was one of five cases that the Supreme Court consolidated under Brown v. Board of Education , ca. 1951
What was the landmark decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education?
Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the U.S. Supreme Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for students of different races to be unconstitutional.
What was the effect of Brown vs Board of Education on the South?
The decision in Brown v. Board of Education forced the desegregation of public schools in 21 states and intensified resistance in the South, particularly among white supremacist groups and government officials sympathetic to the segregationist cause. In Virginia, U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. started the Massive Resistance movement, which sought to pass new state laws and policies as a means of keeping public schools from being desegregated. In one of the most notorious instances of resistance to the decision, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus called out the National Guard in 1957 to keep black students from entering Little Rock Central High School.
How many families were involved in the Topeka class action lawsuit?
n 1950, the Topeka Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) organized another case, this time a class action suit comprised of 13 families.
When did the NAACP appeal to the Supreme Court?
The plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1952 and were joined by four similar NAACP-sponsored cases from Delaware, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
Which amendment prohibited the operation of separate public schools based on race?
The Justices decided to rehear the case in the fall with special attention paid to whether the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause prohibited the operation of separate public schools based on race.
When did black parents start filing court challenges in Kansas?
African American parents in Kansas began filing court challenges as early as 1881. By 1950, 11 court challenges to segregated schools had reached the Kansas State Supreme Court. None of the cases successfully overturned the state law.
When did Warren support Mexican students?
Warren had supported the integration of Mexican-American students in California school systems in 1947, after Mendez v. Westminster and when Brown v. Board of Education was reheard, Warren was able to bring the Justices to a unanimous decision. On May 14, 1954, Chief Justice Warren delivered the opinion of the Court, stating, "We conclude that, ...
Why was Brown v. Board of Education important?
This grouping of cases from Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware was significant because it represented school segregation as a national issue, not just a southern one. Each case was brought on the behalf of elementary school children, involving all-Black schools that were inferior to white schools.
Who was the dean of Howard University in the Brown v. Board of Education case?
Their case eventually became one of five included in the landmark 1954 case, Brown v. Board of Education. Spottswood W. Robinson, III, who was born in 1916, taught law at Howard University, in Washington, DC, and eventually became dean of the school. He made his mark on the history of Brown v.
What was the Bolling case?
Although Bolling is historically considered one of the Brown v. Board of Education bundle cases, it was a different case due to the legal arguments.
What was the precedent in Ferguson v. Brown?
Ferguson ruling of the United States Supreme Court as precedent. The plaintiffs claimed that the "separate but equal" ruling violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. In 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Brown v.
Who was the plaintiff in the Belton v. Gebhart case?
Ethel Louise Belton#N#Ethel Belton and six other adults filed suit on behalf of eight Black children against Francis B. Gebhart and 12 others (both individuals and state education agencies) in the case Belton v. Gebhart. The plaintiffs sued the state for denying to the children admission to certain public schools because of color or ancestry. The Belton case was joined with another very similar Delaware case, Bulah v. Gebhart, and both would ultimately join four other NAACP cases in the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. Belton was born in 1937 and died in 1981.
Who was the lead defendant in Bolling v. Sharpe?
C. Melvin Sharpe , acting as President of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia from 1948 to 1957, was named as the lead defendant in the case Bolling v. Sharpe. Earl Warren. Chief Justice Earl Warren, who was born in 1891, secured a unanimous decision in Brown v.
Who was involved in the Briggs case?
Board of Education case because of his role in the Briggs case. Carter secured the pivotal involvement of social scientists, particularly Kenneth B. Clark, who provided evidence in the Briggs case on segregation's devastating effects on the psyches of Black children. Harold R. Fatzer.
Who worked to recruit plaintiffs willing to stand up to the school board while also researching and recruiting expert witnesses?
Charles Bledsoe worked to recruit plaintiffs willing to stand up to the school board while also researching and recruiting expert witnesses.
Who was the legal team that developed the NAACP's strategy for ending segregation?
Carter was part of the legal team that developed the NAACP’s strategy for ending segregation.
Who took over the Bolling v Sharpe case?
Nabrit took over Charles Hamilton Houston's work on the Bolling v. Sharpe case which went to the U.S. Supreme Court alongside four others.
Who was responsible for starting the oral argument of Bolling v. Sharpe?
George E.C. Hayes was responsible for starting the oral argument of Bolling v. Sharpe, the case which originated in the District of Columbia
Who was the first white attorney for the NAACP?
As the first white attorney for the NAACP, Jack Greenberg helped to argue Brown v. Board of Education at the U.S. Supreme Court level.
Who was the lawyer who argued Lucy v Adams?
After working with Charles H. Houston, Shores went on to argue the Lucy v. Adams case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Who was assigned to the Davis case?
Oliver Hill was assigned to the Davis case, and agreed to help them if they would try to integrate, not equalize the schools.
Thurgood Marshall
Known colloquially and affectionately as “Mr. Civil Rights,” Thurgood Marshall was the leading architect of the strategy that ended state-sponsored segregation. Marshall founded LDF in 1940 and served as its first Director-Counsel.
Jack Greenberg
Jack Greenberg succeeded Thurgood Marshall as LDF’s second Director-Counsel from 1961-84. Greenberg first joined LDF in 1949 as a 24-year-old Columbia Law School graduate. At the time, Marshall was looking for an assistant to help fight Jim Crow.
Constance Baker Motley
Constance Baker Motley, who became the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge, earned her reputation as the chief courtroom strategist of the civil rights movement. In addition to successfully litigating cases that ended segregation in Memphis restaurants and at whites-only lunch counters in Birmingham, Alabama, Motley defended Rev.
Charles Hamilton Houston
Charles Hamilton Houston played an invaluable role in dismantling segregation and mentoring the crop of civil rights lawyers who would ultimately litigate and win Brown v Board of Education. At Howard Law School, he served as Thurgood Marshall’s mentor and his eventual employer at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
James Nabrit Jr
James Nabrit Jr. graduated from Morehouse College and Northwestern University Law School. He taught law at Howard University Law School and was credited with creating the first formal civil rights course in any law school in the country. Among many other accomplishments, Nabrit’s most substantial legal victory was Bolling v.
Spottswood Robinson III
Spottswood Robinson was born in Richmond, Virginia, and attended Virginia Union University and Howard University School of Law where he graduated as valedictorian. At LDF, Robinson was involved in Brown litigation, and Chance v.
What was the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education?
Board of Education declaring that the “separate but equal” regime of segregation within public education was unconstitutional under ...
Who was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during the Brown v. Board of Education case?
Earl Warren was serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Not only did Warren believe that segregation was legally insensible, but he sought to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson, a previous case which had upheld the practice of segregating schools, with an unanimous verdict.
Why did Marshall argue for desegregation?
Painter, but all of these cases were granted victories because separate conditions were successfully argued to be unequal in these individual instances , rather than separation being unequal in principle. All this work made Marshall the natural choice to argue Brown v. Board of Education in front of the Supreme Court, where he compared school segregation to the Black Codes of the post-Confederate south and stated that the argument of the Topeka school board based on a lack of federal responsibility is faulty, as the “duty of enforcing the Fourteenth Amendment is placed upon [the Supreme] Court.”
Which decision cemented public school segregation in law in 1896?
Ferguson decision that cemented public school segregation in law in 1896: “the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff’s argument [is that] the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority.
Who was the first black person to serve on the Supreme Court?
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from August 30, 1967 until his retirement on October 1, 1991 — becoming the first Black American to hold this position. Prior to his career on the Supreme Court however, Marshall served as the Director of the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund and represented the Brown family during the legal battle.
What Supreme Court case is Ferguson?
Ferguson stands among cases like Dred Scott v. Sandford and Korematsu v. Unit ed States as Supreme Court decisions that are nearly universally condemned by lawyers, scholars, and citizens across the nation.
Plessy v. Ferguson
The NAACP
- In 1909 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was officially formed to champion the modern Civil Rights Movement. In its early years its primary goals were to eliminate lynching and to obtain fair trials for Black Americans. By the 1930s, however, the activities of the NAACP began focusing on the complete integration of American society. One o…
Five Cases Consolidated Under Brown v. Board of Education
- By the 1950s, the NAACP was beginning to support challenges to segregation at the elementary school level. Five separate cases were filed in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware: 1. Oliver Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas, et al. 2. Harry Briggs, Jr., et al. v. R.W. Elliott, et al. 3. Dorothy E. Davis et al. v. County Sc…
Supreme Court Rehears Arguments
- Reargument of the Brown v. Board of Educationcases at the Federal level took place December 7-9, 1953. Throngs of spectators lined up outside the Supreme Court by sunrise on the morning of December 7, although arguments did not actually commence until one o'clock that afternoon. Spottswood Robinson began the argument for the appellants, and Thurgoo...
The Warren Court
- In September 1953, President Eisenhower had appointed Earl Warren, governor of California, as the new Supreme Court chief justice. Eisenhower believed Warren would follow a moderate course of action toward desegregation. His feelings regarding the appointment are detailed in the closing paragraphs of a letter he wrote to E. E. "Swede" Hazlett, a childhood friend (shown above…
The Supreme Court Ruling
- Finally, on May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren read the unanimous opinion: school segregation by law was unconstitutional (shown above). Arguments were to be heard during the next term to determine exactly how the ruling would be imposed. Just over one year later, on May 31, 1955, Warren read the Court's unanimous decision, now referred to as Brown II(also shown a…
Reaction
- Despite two unanimous decisions and careful, if not vague, wording, there was considerable resistance to the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. In addition to the obvious disapproving segregationists were some constitutional scholars who felt that the decision went against legal tradition by relying heavily on data supplied by social scientists rather than precede…