Brown v. Board of Education

Background

A group of people challenged a Kansas law that authorized segregation in the State’s public schools, saying the law violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections. In the federal trial court, the State of Kansas, through its Governor and Attorney General, intervened and defended the statute, and that court upheld the law. On appeal, the State, the local Board of Education, and other supporters did not file briefs or enter appearances in this Court, and the Board told the Court it would not appear for oral argument.

Reasoning

The main question before the Court is whether Kansas had the power to pass a law that authorized segregation in its schools in light of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court has not decided that question on the merits in this opinion. Instead, because the issue has national importance and is important to Kansas, the Court asked the State to present its views at oral argument. The Court also asked the Attorney General to say whether the State’s failure to appear should be treated as a concession that the law is invalid.

Real world impact

This order pressures Kansas to actively defend its school-segregation law in the nation’s highest court or risk being treated as having conceded its invalidity. The dispute affects students, school officials, and state officials, and it raises issues with national importance. Because this step is procedural and not a final ruling on the law’s constitutionality, the ultimate outcome could still change.