Case brief summary
The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which says states must treat people equally under the law, does not allow public schools to separate children by race, even if the school buildings and resources are otherwise equal.
Facts
Black children in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware were denied admission to public schools attended by white children because of state and local laws that required or allowed segregated schools based on race.
Procedural history
In most of these cases, lower federal courts with three judges relied on an older Supreme Court decision allowing separate but equal facilities and ruled against the Black students, finding the schools were equal or being made equal. In the Delaware case, the state supreme court ordered the children admitted to the white schools because those schools were better, but still accepted the separate but equal idea. The cases were combined and brought to the Supreme Court, which heard arguments twice.
Issue
Does separating children in public schools solely because of their race deny them equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment, even when the physical facilities and other measurable factors are equal?
Holding
Yes. Racial segregation in public schools violates the equal protection clause because separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.
Reasoning
The Court focused on how important education is today, since the amendment's history didn't clarify its intent. Separating children by race makes minority children feel inferior, harming their growth, and equal facilities can't fix that harm.
Opinions
Majority (Warren): Segregating public school children by race denies them equal protection even if school facilities are otherwise equal, so separate but equal has no place in public education.