1682183856551075

In the case of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and unequal. The case began when 13 plaintiffs, including Oliver Brown, sued the Topeka Board of Education after their children were denied admission to segregated schools. The Supreme Court found that segregation violated the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. This decision overturned the previous "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson. The court unanimously decided to end school segregation and declared that segregated facilities were inherently unequal. Board v. Education, 1954 Name of the Case and Introduction The name of the case analyzed in this paper is Brown v. Board of Education. The 1954 Supreme Court case was a landmark case following a unanimous decision by justices that public schools' racial segregation and discrimination were unconstitutional and unequal. In other words, Brown v. Board of Education overturned Plessy v. Ferguson's decision. Facts of the Case The official title is Brown v. Board of Education and the date for the Supreme Court's ruling was on May 17, 1954. The case involved 13 plaintiffs, including Oliver Brown, Shirley Fleming, Mouad Lawton, Vivian Skills, Sadi Marguerite, Shirley Alma, Lucinda, Lina, Lona, Darlene, and Maud. The 13 plaintiffs were Topeka parents. The defendants included the Topeka Board of Education. The 13 claimants also have the government's practice of segregating students based on race overturned. The Supreme Court found that racial segregation in public schools violated the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed an equal protection under the law. The court's decision overruled the separate but equal position that existed in the education system following the Plessy v. Ferguson case. History of the Case Brown v. Board of Education began in 1951 after Oliver Brown's daughter was denied an opportunity at a nearby elementary school due to an existing segregation policy. Like other 12 local black families that suffered the same segregation policy, Brown sued the Topeka Board of Education, filing a case to the District Court of Kansas. The District Court of Kansas favored the Board of Education as the apex court had set precedence in Plessy v. Ferguson allowing racial segregation in schools. The District Court delivered a ruling the same year of 1951. Brown v. Board of Education's compromising of five cases was appealed to the Supreme Court in 1952 after the plaintiffs disagreed with the ruling by the District Court. While in the Supreme Court, the justices were divided over the segregation issue failing to offer a solution by June 1953. After rehearsing the case in December 1953, the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision on May 14, 1954 declaring that racial segregation in public schools violated the 14th Amendment which guarantees equal protection. Issues and facts of the case and legal questions the court must decide. Brown v. Board of Education was informed by the Separate but Equal principle. The doctrine emerged from Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896. The doctrine meant that segregation in public schools was state-sponsored or legalized. With that, the legal question that the court was to decide involved the constitutionality of separating children in public schools. The issue also involved answering whether the Separate but Equal principle denied the plaintiffs the rights of equal protection guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. Court's decision of holdings and reasons for the decision. In 1952, District of Kansas favored the Board of Education citing the Plessy verdict. In 1953, the court failed to decide on the case due to division of the issue among the justices. According to History.com's editors, Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson argued that the Plessy judgment should be upheld. As a result of the passing of Chief Justice Fred in September 1953, Chief Justice Earl Warren assumed his position. Chief Justice Earl Warren was a position that would use his political skill to convince others to agree on the verdict. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court decided 5-0 to overturn the Plessy conviction and reverse the decision of the District Court of Kansas, thus ending segregation in public schools. Concurring and dissenting opinions. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously decided to overturn the decision of the District Court of Kansas to continue with school segregation in public schools, whereas in 1953, Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson dissented holding that the Plessy verdict ought to stand. The Supreme Court reached a decision that segregation in public schools violated the 14th Amendment and that segregated facilities were inherently unequal under the Equal Protection Clause.