NAACP

When most people think of the NAACP and landmark Supreme Court cases, Brown v. Board of Education, (1954), is usually the first that comes to mind. In Brown, the NAACP consolidated five cases it brought to the federal court system challenging segregation in public education, and presented them to the US Supreme Court. The victory in Brown eventually culminated in the end of segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson, (1896).

While Brown is perhaps the most iconic case in civil rights history, the NAACP and its associated litigation division, the Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF), established in 1939, won a number of important civil rights battles in state and federal courts.

The following is a selection of Supreme Court cases brought by or assisted by the NAACP:

Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, 305 US 337 (1938)

The Court held that Missouri was required to admit an African-American student to its all-white law school because it lacked a separate facility for African-Americans. The court did not overturn the 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Chambers v. Florida, 309 US 227 (1940)

Overturned the conviction of three of four men accused of killing an elderly white man in Pompano Beach, Florida, on the grounds that the defendants' confessions were coerced, in violation of the Due Process Clause.

Smith v. Allwright, 321 US 649 (1944)

Held that primary elections for state and federal office could not exclude an entire class of people, overturning the "white primary" in Texas. This case did not consider the constitutionality of poll taxes or literacy tests.

Morgan v. Virginia, 328 US 373 (1946)

Held that segregation of interstate bus passengers by race was unconstitutional because it interfered with interstate commerce.

Patton v. Mississippi, 332 US 463 (1947)

Held that exclusion of African-Americans from jury pools was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause.

Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 US 1 (1948)

Held that restrictive covenants banning people from buying or renting property on the basis of race was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause and the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause.

McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, 339 US 637 (1950)

Companion case to Sweatt v. Painter, see below.

Sweatt v. Painter, 339 US 629 (1950)

Sweatt v. Painter was the first significant step toward overturning the 'separate but equal' doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson, (1896). The Court held that a newly established Texas law school built to keep African-American students from attending the University of Texas Law School was not equal on the basis of prestige, resources, employment opportunity, and other intangibles, and therefore, withholding admission to the "white" law school was unconstitutional.

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

This case explicitly outlawed segregation in public education and overturned the decision in Plessy v. Ferguson.

Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 US 497 (1954)

Companion case to Brown v. Board of Education, decided the same day, that addressed discrimination in education in the District of Columbia, which is under Federal rather than State law. Used the Fifth Amendment Due Process clause, rather than the Fourteenth Amendment, to grant relief.

Gayle v. Browder, 352 US 903 (1956)

Overturned an Alabama statute that required segregation on public buses as unconstitutional. This case was related to the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1956.

Cooper v. Aaron, 358 US 1 (1958)

The Court held that the Governor and state assembly of Arkansas could not ignore a Supreme Court ruling and continue segregation without violating the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. Overturned a two-and-a-half year delay planned for integrating schools in that state.

NAACP v. Alabama, 357 US 449 (1958)

Held that the NAACP did not have to release its membership list to the State of Alabama under the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause.

McLaughlin v. Florida, 379 US 184 (1964)

Held as unconstitutional a Florida anti-miscengenation law that prohibited co-habitation by people of the opposite sex if one person was white and the other black. Did not overturn the interracial marriage laws (see Loving v. Virgina, (1967)).

Loving v. Virginia, 388 US 1 (1967)

Overturned a Virginia anti-miscegenation statute outlawing interracial marriage as unconstitutional, which also overturned an earlier decision of the US Supreme Court (Pace v. Alabama, (1883))

Green v. County School Board of New Kent County,391 US 430 (1968)

Held that Kent County's freedom of choice plan did not comply with the mandate to admit students to school on a racially neutral basis.

Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education,396 US 1218 (1969)

Clarified the ambiguous phrase used in Brown II (1955), "with all deliberate speed" and held that the board of education had to desegregate its schools immediately.

Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham, 394 US 147 (1969)

Held that a Birmingham parade permit law used to prevent a peaceful march of African-Americans was unconstitutional.

Thorpe v. Housing Authority of Durham, 393 US 268 (1969)

Held that low income public housing tenants could not be evicted without prior notice required by federal law.

Allen v. State Board of Elections, 393 US 544 (1969)

Held that the Voting Rights Act guaranteed the opportunity to cast write-in ballots, allowing African-Americans to organize a write-in campaign for a non-party candidate.

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education,369 US 544 (1969)

Held that the federal courts had constitutional authority to oversee desegregation practices, and that remediation plans could include assigning students to particular schools by mathematical formulas designed to create racial balance and busing children from other parts of the district to achieve those ends.

Griggs v. Duke Power Company, 401 US 424 (1971)

Held that Duke Power's requirements for promotion to higher paying departments, which included mandating the employee hold a high school education and achieve high scores on two separate standardized tests, were subtle attempts to screen African-Americans out of jobs and were not related to the applicant's ability to perform the jobs in question. Held Duke power violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by creating artificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary barriers to employment.

Wright v. Council of the City of Emporia, 402 US 451 (1972)

Held that school districts cannot be draw distinct borders to avoid desegregation by creating white "splinter" districts, after Emporia, Virginia legally changed its status from town to politically independent city in order to exclude African-American county residents from its new school district.

Norwood v. Harrison, 413 US 455 (1973)

Held that government funding cannot be used to provide textbooks to segregated private schools established to allow whites to avoid integration.

Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 US 574 (1983)

Held that the IRS was authorized to revoke tax-exempt status for organizations that violate public policy, after determining Bob Jones University used discriminatory practices based on its fundamentalist Christian beliefs that excluded applicants on the basis of race.

Robinson v. Shell Oil, 519 US 337 (1997)

Held that employers may not retaliate against employees who file discrimination claims.

Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 US 244 (2003)

Held that a university admission policy that awarded 20 bonus points toward admission for applicants who were members of under-represented ethnic groups was unconstitutional because the formula was too mechanistic.

For more information, see Related Questions, below.