Brown Case

What does Brown Case mean in American Law?

The definition of Brown Case in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

The celebrated case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, in which the Supreme Court declared segregation in the public schools violative of the equal protection clause of the Constitution. There were actually two significant decisions in the case, reported at 347 U.S. 483 (1954) and 349 U.S. 294 (1955), respectively. The first (“Brown I”) reversed the rule of Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), in which the provision of “separate but equal,” i.e., racially segregated, facilities (inthat instance, involving railroad passengers) had been upheld. In Brown I the Courf held that, at least in the context of public education, separate was inherently unequal. In the second opinion (“Brown H”) the Court, addressing the question of remedy, delegated carrying out desegregation to the lower federal courts, enjoining school officials to make a “prompt and reasonable start” and directing the courts to effect the transformation “with all deliberate speed.”

In short order, the Brown holding against racial discrimination was extended beyond public education to substantially all governmental functions (see state action). The decision coincided with the beginning of the era of dramatic agitation for racial equality (see sit-ins) but, as usual, it is unclear if the case was a major cause or just a symptom of a process more widely coming to life. Cf affirmative action; Bakke case; quotas and targets; reverse discrimination.