Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483

Involved

Petitioner: Brown

Respondent: Board of Education of Topeka

Heard by: Vinson Court (1949- 1953)

Decided by: Warren Court (1953- 1954)

The cases that were put with Brown v. Board were:  Briggs v. Elliott (filed in South Carolina), Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County (filed in Virginia), Gebhart v. Belton (filed in Delaware), and Bolling v. Sharpe (filed in Washington D.C.).

Chief Justice Earl Warren

What Happened

Black children were denied admission to public schools attended by white children under laws requiring or permitting segregation according to the races. The white and black schools approached equality in terms of buildings, curricula, qualifications, and teacher salaries. This case was decided together with Briggs v. Elliott and Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County.

Where and When

Argued December 9-11, 1952

Reargued December 7-9, 1953

Decided May 17, 1954

Case started in Topeka, Kansas

How and why was it brought to the Supreme Court

In 1951, a class action suit was filed against the Board of Education of the City of Topeka, Kansas in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.  The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People recruited thirteen angry parents who were the plaintiffs who asked that their school district to reverse its policy of racial segregation.  Separate elementary schools were operated by the Topeka Board of Education under an 1879 Kansas law, which allowed districts to maintain separate elementary schools facilities for black and white students.  

The District Court ruled in favor of the Board of Education, saying that the U.S. Supreme Court precedent set in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), which had upheld a state law requiring "separate but equal" segregated facilities for blacks and whites in railway cars.  The three-judge District Court panel agreed that segregation in public education had a negative effect on black children, but said that black and white schools in Topeka were substantially equal with respect to buildings, transportation, curricular, and educational qualifications of teachers.  This case was appealed to the Supreme Court.

Writ of Certiorari

The Supreme Court granted the plaintiffs' petition for writ of certiorari on October 8, 1952. The Court combined Brown with a South Carolina school segregation case, Briggs v. Elliott, and noted there were additional cases in appellate court that were likely to be added later (two more were added, for a total of four; a fifth case was heard separately because it concerned segregation in the District of Columbia, federal territory). 

Ruling

The Supreme Court ruled 9 votes for Brown, 0 votes against Brown.  Each side had equal legal protection.

Opinion of the plaintiffs

The question presented in these cases must be determined, not on the basis of conditions existing when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, but in the light of the full development of public education and its present place in American life throughout the Nation. 

The segregation of children in public schools based off of race deprives children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities, even though the physical facilities and other tangible factors may be equal.  Where a State has undertaken to provide an opportunity for an education in its public schools, such an opportunity is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms. 

The "separate but equal" doctrine adopted in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, has no place in the field of public education. 

Opinion of the Board of Education of Topeka

In 1896 the Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Homer Plessy, a black man from Louisiana, challenged the constitutionality of segregated railroad coaches, first in the state courts and then in the U. S. Supreme Court. The high court upheld the lower courts noting that since the separate cars provided equal services, the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment was not violated. This case established the "separate but equal" doctrine which became the constitutional basis for segregation.

Opinion of the Court

In the first few cases in the Supreme Court, they interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment as proscribing all state-imposed discriminations against the Negro race. The doctrine of

"separate but equal" did not make its appearance in this Court until 1896 in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, involving not education but transportation.

In more recent cases, inequality was found when specific benefits were enjoyed by white students, but were denied to Negro students of the same educational qualifications.

In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education.  We come then to the question presented: does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other tangible factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.

The Warren Court

Amicus Curiae Briefs

The Attorneys General of the states requiring or permitting segregation in public education will also be permitted to appear as amici curiae upon request to do so by September 15, 1954, and submission of briefs by October 1, 1954. 

These are the briefs to all 5 consolidated cases
Briefs prior to initial oral argument:: Jurisdictional Statement Brief for Appellants Appendix to Brief for Appellants: The Effects of

Segregation and the Consequences of Desegregation–A Social

Science Statement Brief for Appellees Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae Brief of American Civil Liberties Union et al. as Amici Curiae Brief of American Federation of Teachers asAmicus Curiae Brief of American Jewish Congress as Amicus Curiae Brief of American Veterans Committee, Inc. as Amicus Curiae Brief of Congress of Industrial Organizations as Amicus Curiae

Initial oral arguments: Oral Argument (Brown v. Board of Education), December 9, 1952 Oral Argument (Briggs v. Elliott), December 9, 1952 Oral Argument (Briggs v. Elliott), December 10, 1952 Oral Argument (Davis v. Prince Edward County School Board),

December 10, 1952 Oral Argument (Bolling v. Sharpe), December 10, 1952 Oral Argument (Bolling v. Sharpe), December 11, 1952 Oral Argument (Gebhart v. Belton), December 11, 1952

Briefs prior to reargument: Brief for Appellants Brief for Board of Education Brief for State of Kansas Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae Appendix to Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae Brief of American Federation of Teachers as Amicus Curiae Brief of American Veterans Committee, Inc. as Amicus Curiae

Rearguments: Oral Argument (Briggs v. Elliott; Davis v. Prince Edward County

School Board), December 7, 1953 Oral Argument (Briggs v. Elliott; Davis v. Prince Edward County

School Board), December 8, 1953 Oral Argument (Brown v. Board of Education), December 8, 1953 Oral Argument (Bolling v. Sharpe), December 8, 1953 Oral Argument (Bolling v. Sharpe), December 9, 1953 Oral Argument (Gebhart v. Belton), December 9, 1953

Briefs prior to oral argument on implementation of the Court's decision at 347 U.S. 483: Brief for Appellants Brief for Board of Education

Brief for State of Kansas Reply Brief for Appellants Memorandum Brief for Appellants Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae Supplemental Memorandum for the United States as Amicus Curiae Brief of American Veterans Committee, Inc. as Arnicus Curiae Brief of Attorney General of the State of Arkansas as Amicus Curiae Brief of Attorney General of the State of Florida as Amicus Curiae Brief of Attorney General of the State of Maryland as Amicus Curiae Brief of Attorney General of the State of North Carolina as

Amicus Curiae Brief of Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma as Arnicus Curiae Brief of Attorney General of the State of Texas as Amicus Curiae

Oral arguments on implementation of the Court's decision at 347 U.S. 483: Oral Argument (consolidated), April 11, 1955 Oral Argument (consolidated), April 12, 1955

Oral Argument (consolidated), April 13, 1955 Oral Argument (consolidated), April 14, 1955

The President stated: ‘We shall not finally achieve the ideals for which this Nation was founded so long as any American suffers discrimination as a result of his race, or religion, or color, or the land of origin of his forefathers.  The Federal Government has a clear duty to see that constitutional guarantees of individual liberties and of equal protection under the laws are not denied or abridged anywhere in our Union. 

Conference and Conclusion

At the Supreme Court’s conference regarding Brown v. Board, the justices decided to vote unanimously for Brown.  This decision was based off of the thought that any deferring opinion could be seen as an excuse to avoid the new law.  The Supreme Court decided that despite the equalized objective factors of the school, intangible issues lead to inequality. Racial segregation in public education has a negative effect on minority children because it is seen as a sign of inferiority.  Separate but equal is inherently unconstitutional in the context of public education. 

This is a landmark case because it ended segregation in any public place which at the time was a very controversial issue.  It also struck down the Plessy v. Ferguson precedent. 

Constitutional Significance

The Judges ruled in favor of Brown because of the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment.  It states that, "No state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law."

This case established that separate but equal in unconstitutional.