Court Analysis

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Taranjot Singh Professor Elwood April 29 2023 Brown vs Board of Education In the case of Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the problem of segregation in public schools. According to the separate but equal doctrine established by the 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, the case was filed by a group of African American parents on behalf of their children who were denied admission to white schools in Topeka, Kansas. The plaintiffs, who were represented by Thurgood Marshall and other NAACP attorneys, and the defendant, the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, were the parties to the lawsuit. The United States Supreme Court ultimately heard the case. The case was first brought up in December 1952, then again in December 1953, and the decision was issued on May 17, 1954. The world was going through a lot of political change at that time. The Civil Rights Movement, protests for racial equality and social justice in the United States was happening when the Brown decision was made. Other major events during this period included the Little Rock Central High School desegregation in 1957, the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956), and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963). Globally, the Cold War was still going on, with tensions between the US and the USSR rising.

Segregation in public schools was ruled to be unlawful in the Brown v. Board of Education decision because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that separate educational facilities are naturally unequal and that segregation was harmful for African American children. There were no supporting or disagreeing opinions in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. Even if some of the nine members of the Supreme Court reached different conclusions, they were all unanimous in their support of the decision. Especially in situations involving such a controversial and dividing matter, the Supreme Court hardly reaches an unanimous decision. Some biases that I would have being a person that has somewhat had to deal with racial segregation growing up would be that I would have most definitely voted to rule it as unconstitutional. Of course the segregation I had to go through is nowhere near as severe as what African Americans had to go through during that time, but having gone through a fraction of it helps me understand how it feels when you are not being treated equally. Even if someone has not gone through racial segregation you would think that it would be pretty likely that they would also agree that it is unconstitutional because it should never be acceptable for there to be racial segregation and discrimination. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was the main topic of discussion in the Brown v. Board of Education case. According to the Equal Protection Clause, "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of

the laws.” After the Civil War, this clause was added to the Constitution to guarantee that everyone would have equal protection under the law, regardless of race or ethnicity. In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause because it led to African American pupils having naturally unfair educational opportunities. The Court established that segregation had a negative impact on the educational opportunities and outcomes for African American children and that separate but equal educational facilities were not actually equal. In coming to this decision, the Court rejected the "separate but equal" principle that had been established in the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896. In Plessy, the Supreme Court had ruled that racial segregation in public places, including schools, was constitutional as long as the segregated facilities were considered to be of an equal standard of quality. Finally, the Brown v. Board of Education ruling helped establish the idea of equal protection under the law for everyone, regardless of race, and was a landmark achievement for the Civil Rights Movement. The ruling continues to be a major turning point in the ongoing fight for civil rights and social justice in the United States and has been mentioned in a number of subsequent cases involving concerns of racial discrimination and segregation.

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Work Cited U.S. Constitution, Amendment XIV, Section 1." Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv.