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Legal systems
8 October 2017
Plessy v.s Ferguson and Brown v.s Board of education
Huge changes to equal rights in America all started in 1892 from two cases, first Homère Patrice Adolphe Plessy v.s judge John H. Ferguson followed by Oliver Brown v.s Board of Education. The Plessy v.s Ferguson case first created the idea of separate but equal in 1896, but in 1954 that changed, in a good way due to the popular case known as Brown v.s Board of education. These cases Plessy v.s Ferguson and Brown v.s Board of education both severely impacted segregation in America, the reason why we are not splitting up bus seats and schools based on race. First, 1892 the change started with a court decision “separate but equal from …show more content…
According to BillofRightsInst, A man named Thurgood Marshall Argued that the segregation of schools violated the 14th amendment which states that, “No state shall… deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws. Several different segregation issues from around the country got combined into one case. The case from Oliver Brown, a 3rd grade African American student from Topeka, led the list. Linda was denied acceptance into white schools close to her home, therefore she was forced to attend a school miles away. Thurgood Marshall argued that the white school a way higher quality school then the blacks, but it really wasn't in Topeka. This lead to a question, can schools really be equal if the are separated by skin color. The Supreme Court Heard the case in 1953, the justices became strongly decided so they decided to put the case on hold. While on hold, Chief Justice, Fred Vinson died. He was replaced by Earl Warren. Earl believed segregation was unconstitutional, understanding the south wouldn't agree, he believed a unanimous decision was needed. When resumed in 1954 the court was still divided, some beloved segregation was a violation of the 14th amendment’s equality. Some believed it was a segregation issue and the decision should be left the the …show more content…
The minority said that the law was unconstitutional and violated the civil rights, this side was correct but did not win. The court went by the doctrine “separate but equal” meaning two races must be separated but have equal quality. Until in 1945 when Oliver brown helped start the complaint that the schools aren't equal. The majority this time won saying that segregation was hurting the society, then they decided it was unconstitutional. These cases are both very related because they both fight segregation. Brown v.s Board case showed that separate is NOT equal if we are separating schools based on race. Instead of segregation helping the society the Supreme Court declared segregation was hurting the society and this lead to the change of America forever with voting and civil rights acts