Brown v. Board of Education

SUMMARY

• The case that came to be known as Brown v. Board of Education was actually the name given to 5 separate cases that were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the issue of segregation in public schools. These cases were Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Briggs v. Elliot, Davis v. Board of Education of Prince Edward County, Boiling v. Sharpe, & Gebhart v. Ethel. While the facts of each case are...

SUMMARY cONTINUED

• ...different, the main issue in each was the constitutionality of state-sponsored segregation in public schools. Thurgood Marshall & the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund handled these cases. Although it acknowledged some of the plaintiffs' claims, a 3 judge panel at the U.S. District Court that heard the cases ruled in favor of the school boards. The plaintiffs then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

DECISION

• Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education. Handed down on May 17,...

DECISION cONTINUED

• ...1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. As a result, racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the Civil Rights Movement.

WHAT CHANGED?

• As a result, racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the Civil Rights Movement.