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Instructions
You have researched Muller v. Oregon and have read
Supreme Court Declares School Segregation Unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education
.
Choose one of these cases and look at the impact it had on society at the time. Look through the rulings and see what the justices on each side argued.
Then in a short paper, discuss how current societal mores and beliefs seemed to affect (or not affect) the SCOTUS decision and if the decisions themselves became the catalyst for societal change. How does the law affect society and society affect the way the Constitution is viewed? At the end, include a paragraph about which side of the case a forensic psychologists might support and why.
CASE CHOICE, Supreme Court Declares School Segregation Unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education.
Short Paper
/Case Study
Rubric
(
Underg
raduate)Guidelines for Submission:
Short papers should use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-
inch margins. Sources should be cited according to a discipline-appropriate citation method. Page-length requirements:1–2 pages
.
Critical Elements
Exemplary
(100%)
Proficient
(85
%)
Needs Improvement
(55
%
)
Not Evident
(0%)
Value
Main Elements
Includes all of the main
elements and requirements
and cites multiple examples to
illustrate each element
Includes most of the main
elements and requirements
and cites
many
examples to
illustrate each element
Includes some of the
main
elements and requirements
Does not include any of the
main elements and
requirements
25
Inquiry
and
Analysis
Provides
in
–
depth analysis
that
demonstrate
s
complete
understanding of multiple
concepts
Provides
in
–
depth analysis that
demonstrate
s
complete
understanding of some
concepts
Provides
in
–
depth analysis that
demonstrate
s
complete
understanding of
minimal
concepts
Does not provide
in
–
depth
analysis
2
0
Integration
and
Application
All
o
f the
course con
cepts
are
correctly applied
Most
of the course concept
s
are
correctly applied
Some of the
course concept
s
are
correctly applied
Does not
correctly apply
any of
the
course concepts
1
0
Critical
Thinking
Draws insightful conclusions
that are thoroughly defended
with evidence and examples
Draws informed conclusions
that are justified
with evidence
Draw
s logical conclusions
, but
does not defend with
evidence
Does not
draw
logical
conclusions
2
0
Research
Incorporates many scholarly
resources
effectively
that
reflect depth and breadth of
research
Incorporates some scholarly
resources
effectively
that
reflect depth
and breadth
of
research
Incorporates
very few scholarly
resources that reflect depth
and breadth
of research
Does not incorporate scholarly
resources that reflect depth
and breadth
of research
15
Writing
(Mechanics/Citations)
No errors related to
organization,
grammar and
style, and
citation
s
Minor errors related to
organization, g
rammar and
style, and citations
Some errors related to
organization, grammar and
style, and citations
Major errors related to
organization, grammar and
style, and citations
1
0
Tot
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May 17, 1954 | Supreme Court Declares School Segregation Unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education
By The Learning Network
May 17, 2012 4:00 am
May 17, 2012 4:00 am
Thomas J. O’Halloran/Library of Congress U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph CollectionIn Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall successfully argued that school segregation was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Historic Headlines
Learn about key events in history and their connections to today.
Go to related On This Day page »
Go to related post from our partner, findingDulcinea »
See all Historic Headlines »
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling, which declared that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal.
The decision overturned the 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the court ruled that segregation laws were constitutional if equal facilities were provided to whites and blacks. Segregation was therefore justified under the doctrine “separate but equal,” but in few cases were segregated facilities actually equal. The disparity was particularly clear in public schools, where the amount of financing and the standard of education for all-black schools lagged far behind all-white schools.
In 1951, the NAACP recruited families from Topeka, Kan., to take part in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of school segregation. The named plaintiff, Oliver Brown, had a daughter who was forced to take a bus to an all-black school rather than attend the all-white school blocks from her house. The case was combined with similar cases from other parts of the country and argued before the Supreme Court by a team of NAACP lawyers headed by the future justice Thurgood Marshall.
The New York Times summarized the NAACP’s case: “Their main thesis was that segregation, of itself, was unconstitutional. The 14th Amendment, which was adopted July 28, 1868, was intended to wipe out the last vestige of inequality between the races, the Negro side argued. … The Negroes also asserted that segregation had a psychological effect on pupils of the Negro race and was detrimental to the educational system as a whole.”
The defense argued that there was nothing in the Constitution outlawing segregation and that therefore it was a matter for the states to decide. The court, in a 9 to 0 decision, sided with the plaintiffs, ruling that segregation violated the clause of the 14th Amendment guaranteeing that states could not “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
In the most famous comment on the case, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared, “In the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
In a separate 1955 case that became known as Brown II, the court ruled that school districts in the 17 states that required segregation and the four that allowed it (including Kansas) integrate their school systems “with all deliberate speed.” The ambiguity of the phrase encouraged many school districts to strongly resist integration, often by shutting down public schools and financing private schools (which were not affected by Brown) for white students. In some places, it took more than 10 years for public schools to become integrated.
Connect to Today:
Even after the implementation of Brown, many schools remained virtually segregated because of neighborhood patterns. In the 1970s, some school districts sought — and some were forced by courts — to achieve a racial balance in schools using tactics like busing students to schools outside their neighborhood. However, in 2007, a divided Supreme Court ruled that public schools “cannot seek to achieve or maintain integration through measures that take explicit account of a student’s race.”
In January 2012, The Times reported on a study by the Manhattan Institute that found that segregation in U.S. neighborhoods had greatly declined and that “the nation’s cities are more racially integrated than at any time since 1910.” While, as the article noted, the findings were generally accepted by a number of experts, some argued that the decline in busing to achieve racial integration has resulted in some public schools that are more segregated than before.
What are your thoughts on the evolution of integration in the United States since Brown? How do you think we should consider the issue of continued school segregation in the context of increased urban integration? Why?
Learn more about what happened in history on May 17»
Learn more about Historic Headlines and our collaboration with findingDulcinea »
Comments are no longer being accepted.
Christena Marsland
December 14, 2012
·
2:19 pm
Yes, it was 1954 that the Supreme Court declared school segregation was unconstitutional. Please tell me how Louisiana can still separate boys and girls in there schools here. I have lived in other States and there is not anymore Boys Academy or Girls Academy. The girls schools here do not even have equal rights when it come to getting to have any kind of sports. There are many other reasons but first how can they do this?
Ethan Jackson
February 3, 2014
·
2:24 pm
Very useful for my school project
Virginia Monson
May 20, 2014
·
1:15 pm
An Overlooked Historical Fact about Brown v. Bd of Education
The May 16 article, discussing how the decision in Brown v. Bd of Education impacted on the First Lady, “The Decision That Helped Shape Michelle Obama,” overlooked a crucial and critical historical fact. Brown v. Bd of Education actually began with a school bus in Calarendon County, South Carolina. (See Chapter 1, “Simple Justice” by Richard Kluger.) Levi Pearson and three other individuals were seeking money to pay for gasoline for the school bus they and others in their community had privately purchased to transport black children to their segregated school. Their children had been walking 8 to 9 miles one way to get to their school, while white children were passing them on the free public school buses. Pearson volunteered to be the lead plaintiff in Levi Pearson v Clarendon County Bd of Education, signed by attorneys Thurgood Marshall and Harold Boulware. Mr. Levi, posthumously, received the Congressional Gold Medal on Sept. 8, 2004 for his courage to stand up and bring the first desegregation law suit that eventually became, Briggs v. Elliott, and which subsequently became Brown v. Bd of Education. We should never forget those who had the courage to stand up and be counted when such an act could result in their death.
Merp Meep
February 16, 2016
·
5:04 pm
I have a question: What landmark did the supreme court declare that the segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment? This is a church assignment that we have to do, but we can use the internet…
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1-4 Short Paper: History and Landmark Court
D
ecisions
65.5 / 100
D
You made some good points in this paper and you seem to have at least some understanding of why the Supreme Court ruled like they did based upon the evidence presented at the time. However, I would have liked for you to have placed this decision more firmly within the context of the shifting social attitudes and beliefs that was occurring at that time. The main point is that legal decisions (including SCOTUS decisions) do not occur in a vacuum. They reflect the attitudes of the citizens. At the time of this court case, there was a major shift going on regarding how US citizens were viewing the rights of Black people. In the past, no one would have cared about the quality of education provided to Black children, but that this case even went to the Supreme Court reflects that this was rapidly changing. The SCOTUS decision that school segregation was not only a HUGE statement as to the rights of Blacks as US citizens, but it actually served as impetus for providing them additional rights – it sparked the Civil Rights Movement! I can tell that you have some understanding of the relationship between society and legislation, but I would have like to have seen more elaboration on this core concept.
You did a bit better answering the question about how a forensic psychologist might side in this particular case and why, but didn’t really emphasize that the psychologist would focus on the psychological effects.
You integrated information from one article into your paper, so your score in the Research area is not as high as it could have been. For a higher score in this area consider integrating information from at least 3 sources.
Your writing is fairly well-organized, but there were many areas that were hard to understand. Please consider making use of SNHU’s Online Writing Center. They will read your papers and give you suggestions prior to submission. This could only boost your score! You did a pretty good job with APA formatting!
Your paper was late, but you were so close that as a one time courtesy, I did not penalize you.
I’m sure this score is not what you hoped for, but you can bring future grades up substantially with a bit more elaboration and writing assistance!
