Supreme Court Law Clerks' Recollections of Brown V. Board of Education II

Barrett, John Q., St. John's Law Review

INTRODUCTION

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States announced two landmark decisions: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka1 and its companion case, Boiling v. Sharpe.2 In Brown, which was a grouping of four separate state cases,3 and in Boiling, a case originating in the federal government's District of Columbia, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected its prior precedent4 and struck down as unconstitutional all state and federal laws requiring the racially segregated education of public school students. In the ringing words of Chief Justice Earl Warren's opinion, the Court concluded

that in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but …

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Publication information: Article title: Supreme Court Law Clerks' Recollections of Brown V. Board of Education II. Contributors: Barrett, John Q. - Author. Journal title: St. John's Law Review. Volume: 79. Issue: 4 Publication date: Fall 2005. Page number: 823+. © St. John's Law Review Association Fall 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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