What provisions of the US Constitution were used to decide Brown v. Board of Education?

Answer 1

The United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, (1954), was based on the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Although the Due Process Cause was probably also applicable, Chief Justice Earl Warren explained it was unnecessary for the Court to review the case in terms of both clauses, because the Equal Protection Clause was sufficient to declare segregation in public school unconstitutional.

Case Citation:

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483 (1954)

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Answer 2

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483 (1954)

The US Supreme Court heard Brown v. Board of Education,(1954) under its appellate jurisdiction. Brownwas one of five cases from federal courts in different parts of the country dealing with segregation in the public schools that were consolidated into a single case. All five cases had been initiated with the help of the NAACP, and timed to reach the Supreme Court at the same time to improve the chance of the segregation issues being considered.

Chief Justice Earl Warren presided over a unanimous court voting 9-0 that segregation was unconstitutional. The decision in Brown v. Board of Education overturned an earlier ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, (1896), that sanctioned segregation, established the "separate but equal" doctrine, and allowed Jim Crow laws to flourish through the nation.

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