TOPEKA, KANSAS BY: BRENNAN NEBRIG Brown v. Board of Education

Background Linda Brown and her sister had to walk through a dangerous railroad switchyard to get to their bus stop to go to Monroe School, an all black school. Another school, The Sumner School, was much closer and had a much safer travel route for the children but it was just for white people. Linda and her sister were unable to go to the Sumner School.

Public Policy Schools were segregated- A state law permitted but didn’t require that schools of more than 15,000 people maintain separate school facilities. Equal Protection- Fourteenth Amendment

The Brown Family The plaintiff of the case was the Brown family. The Brown family believed that segregation in schools violated the Equal Protection Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment. They also argued that even though the schools were similar, segregated schools could never be equal to one another.

Board of Education The defendant of the case was the Board of Education of Topeka. They argued that all-black schools and all-white schools had similar buildings, transportation, curriculum, and teachers. “Similar but equal”

Federal District Court The Federal District Court decided that segregation in the schools was legal because the two schools were similar. (“separate but equal”) The Brown’s appealed their case to Supreme Court.

The Final Say The supreme court decided, unanimously, that separate but equal schools still violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The precedent set by this case was that state laws that had separate schools for blacks and for whites was unconstitutional. This ruling overruled the precedent for the Plessy v. Ferguson case (1896) which allowed segregation.

Dissenting Opinions Supreme court’s decision that segregation in schools was unconstitutional was unanimous. There was no dissenting opinion.

Amicus curiae briefs No third parties filed an amicus curiae brief

Long Term Effects Desegregation of schools! Started the civil rights movement The desegregation of schools led many blacks to want equality in many other places this became known as the civil rights movement. Still effects todays society

Work cited Pictures: mrriveraushistory.blogspot.com