Simple English definitions for legal terms
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Brown v. Board of Education was a very important decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954. It said that it was not okay to have separate schools for black and white students, even if the schools were supposed to be equal. This decision helped to end segregation in schools and was a big win for the Civil Rights Movement. The case started when a black family in Kansas sued the school district for not letting their daughter go to the school closest to their home. The Supreme Court's decision was unanimous, but some people in the South didn't like it and tried to resist it. The Supreme Court had to remind them that they had to follow the decision and end segregation in schools.
Overview: Brown v. Board of Education (1954) was a famous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that ended segregation in schools. The court ruled that laws that separated students by race in public schools were unconstitutional, even if the schools were "separate but equal" in quality. The court said that separate schools were inherently unequal and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, the court did not say how to end segregation, so a later decision, Brown II (1955), ordered states to desegregate "with all deliberate speed."
Background: In 1951, a black man named Oliver Brown tried to enroll his daughter in a school near their home in Topeka, Kansas, but the school district made her go to a school farther away because she was black. Brown and other black families sued the Topeka Board of Education, arguing that the segregation policy was unconstitutional. The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas ruled against them, citing a previous Supreme Court decision that said segregation was okay if the facilities were equal. Brown appealed to the Supreme Court.
Example: The Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education overruled the previous decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which had allowed segregation as long as the facilities were equal. This decision was a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement and led to more integration in other areas.
Example: Some Southern politicians tried to resist or delay desegregation, which was known as "Massive Resistance." However, in the case of Cooper v. Aaron, the Supreme Court said that officials could not ignore the Brown decision or delay desegregation.
Explanation: These examples show how the Brown decision was a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement and how some people tried to resist it. The Cooper decision showed that the Supreme Court was serious about ending segregation and that officials had to follow the law.