EDUCATION
Historical Court Cases
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State of Missouri,ex rel.
Lloyd Gaines v. University of Missouri
305 US 337 (1937)
(Chief Justice Hughes delivered the opinion)
After Lloyd Gaines, a black, had been refused admission to the law school of the State University of Missouri, he applied to state courts for an order to compel admission on the grounds that refusal constituted a denial of his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The University of Missouri defended its action by maintaining that Lincoln University (a predominantly black institution of higher learning) would eventually establish its own law school, which Gaines could then attend, and that, in the meantime, he could exercise the option of pursuing his studies outside the state on a scholarship. The Supreme Court of Missouri dismissed Gaines’ petition for mandamus, and upheld the university’s decision to reject his application.
The U.S. Supreme Court, however, reversed this decision, maintaining that the state of Missouri was obliged to provided equal facilities for Blacks or, in the absence of such facilities, to admit them to the existing facility for Blacks or, in the absence of such facilities, to admit them to the existing facility.
Sipuel v. University of Oklahoma
332 US 631 (1948)
Ada Lois Sipuel, a black, was denied admission to the law school of the University of Oklahoma and thereupon promptly requested legal assistance from the NAACP, which filed a petition in the Oklahoma courts requesting an order directing her admission. The petition was denied on the grounds that the Gaines decision did not require a state with segregation laws to admit a black to its white schools. Further, the Oklahoma courts maintained that the state itself was not obligated to set up a separate school unless first requested to do so by blacks desiring a legal education. The decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, reversed this decision, and held that the state was required to provide Blacks with equal educational opportunities as soon as it did so for whites.
Sweatt v. Painter
339 US 629 (1950)
(Chief Justice Vinson delivered the opinion)
The black petitioner in this case was refused admission to the law school of the University of Texas on the grounds
that substantially equivalent facilities were already available in another Texas school open to blacks only.
The US Supreme Court ruled that the petitioner be admitted to the University of Texas law school, since "in terms
of number of the faculty, variety of courses and opportunity for specialization, size of the student body, scope of
library, availability of law review and similar activities, the University of Texas Law School is superior."
McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
339 US 637 (1950)
(Chief Justice Vinson delivered the opinion)
After having bee admitted to the state university, G. W. McLaurin, a black, was required to occupy a special seat
in the classroom and a designated table in both the library and the cafeteria-all because of the race.
The U.S. Supreme Court declared unanimously that the black student must receive the same treatment at the
hands of the state as other students, and could not be segregated.
Gray v. University of Tennessee
342 US 517 (1952)
This case resulted from the refusal of a three-judge U.S. District Court to accept jurisdiction in the matter of
enjoining the exclusion of blacks from a state university. The lone judge to whom the matter was then referred
ruled that plaintiffs were entitled to admission but did not order the university to do so.
The Supreme Court was asked to refer the case back to the three-judge District Court for further proceedings. Pending
this appeal, however, one of the students seeking admission was in fact admitted. Since the court found no suggestion
that persons "similarly situated would not be afforded similar treatment," The case was dismissed as moot.
Brown v. Board of Education
347 US 483 (1954)
(Chief Justice Warren delivered the Opinion
This case involved the practice of denying black children equal access to state public schools due to state laws requiring
or permitting racial segregation. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that segregation deprived the of
protection under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The "separate but equal" doctrine of
Plessy v. Ferguson was overruled. After reargument a year later, the case was remanded (along with its
four companion cases) to the District Court, which was instructed to enter such orders as were necessary to ensure
the admission of all parties to public schools on a racially nondiscriminatory basis.
Hawkins v. Board of Control
347 US 971 (1954)
This case resulted from a ruling of the Florida Supreme Court which denied a black the right to enter the University
of Florida on the grounds that he had failed to show that a separate law school for blacks was not substantively
equal to the one for whites. The U.S. Supreme Court vacated the judgement and remanded the case to the Florida
Supreme Court for a decision in light of the ruling in Brown which overruled the separate but equal doctrine.
After two years, the Florida Supreme Court was still denying the petitioner the right to enter the University of Florida. By
that time, however, it had appointed a commissioner to determine when in the future he could be admitted "without
causing public mischief." This time, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the petitioner should be admitted to the
school promptly, since there was no palpable reason for any delay.
Turead v. Board of Supreme
347 US 971 (1954)
This case stemmed from a provisional injunction requiring the admittance of blacks to Louisiana State University.
The State Court of Appeals reversed this action, declaring that it required the decision of a District Court of three
judges. The U.S. Supreme Court vacated this judgment and remanded the case for consideration, again in light of
Brown.
Frazier v. University of North Carolina
350 US 979 (1956)
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a district court judgment that blacks may not be excluded from institutions of
higher learning because of their race or color.
Cooper v. Aaron
358 US 1 (1958)
The Supreme Court voted unanimously to set aside a 2 1/2 year delay in the integration of Central High School, in
Little Rock.
Lucy v. Adams
224 F. Supp. 79 (1963)
The University of Alabama was ordered by a Federal District Court to admit two black students, Vivian Malone
and James Hood. Governor Wallace of Alabama tried to thwart their admission by "standing in the school house
door," but he backed down when President Kennedy mobilized the National Guard.
Lee v. Macon County Board of Education
389 US 25 (1967)
The Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision ordering the desegregation of Alabama's school districts and
declared state school grants to whites attending segregated private schools unconstitutional.
Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education
396 US 19 (1969)
The Supreme Court ended the "all deliberate speed" doctrine when, by a vote of 8 to 0, it order 33 districts in
Mississippi to desegregate. The Department of Heath, Education and Welfare had asked that the districts be
granted more time to desegregate, the first time HEW had sought a delay in integration. But the Courts ordered
that integration proceed "at once."
Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg Board Education
402 US 1 (1971)
The Supreme Court affirmed the use of busing and faculty transfers to overcome the effects of dual school systems.
Writing the decision, Chief Justice Burger noted that :bus transportation has long been a part of all public
educational systems and it is unlikely that a truly effective remedy could be devised without continued reliance
upon it." However, the decision left local district judges the authority to decide whether a desegregation plan was
constitutionally adequate.
Wright v. City Emporia
407 US 451 (1972)
Cotton v. Scotland Neck Board of Education
407 US 485 (1972)
The Supreme Court held that two towns with heavy concentrations of white students could not secede from a largely
black county school system and form its own school district in an attempt to frustrate integration.
Richmond, Virginia School Board v. State Board of Education
412 US 92 (1973)
By a 4 to 4 vote the Supreme Court declined to order the integration of the predominantly black schools in Richmond
with those of two white suburbs. Though the Court wrote no decision, integrationist express concern that permitting
de facto segregation to stand in this manner will hinder corrective action in other metropolitan areas, perpetuate
"neighborhood" one-race schools, and lessen the extent of integration in unitary school systems.
Keyes v. School District 1
413 US 189 (1973)
The Supreme Court, for the first time, ordered integration in a northern school system. By a 7 to 1 vote, it ruled that
a substantial part of the schools of Denver were administratively segregated, that the system must therefore be considered
"dual" and thus be desegregated. The suit had been brought by 11 blacks, Hispanic, and white parents, marking
a trend for black and hispanic minorities to cooperate.
University of California Regents v. Bakke
438 US 265 (1978)
Allen Bakke, a white, was denied admission to the University of California at Davis Medical School and claimed that
he was unlawfully discriminated against. Although not able to agree on an opinion concerning the major issues
raised about the school's admission policies, the result of the Court's decision was that the school's special
admissions program violated law to totally excluding non-minority applicants from consideration for 16 (out of 100)
places irrespective of qualifications.