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Sunday, May 17, 2026

"UNANIMOUS DECISION ANNOUNCED BY EARL WARREN"

HIGH COURT RULES RACIAL SEGREGATION IN PUBLIC EDUCATION UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public education is a violation of the Constitution of the United States.

The unanimous ruling, announced by Chief Justice Earl Warren*, overturns the 1896 'Plessy v Ferguson' decision which said that there was no constitutional violation as along a facilities were 'separate but equal'.

The case was initiated by the NAACP in behalf of Linda Brown, a third grader in Topeka, Kansas who had been denied admission to her local elementary school because of race.

*Earl Warren (1891-1974) was born in Los Angeles, CA & received his BA & LLB from the University of California, Berkely.  EW served as governor of California 1943-1953 & CJ of the USSC 1953-1969.  He was appointed by LBJ to chair the Commission to investigate the assassination of JFK.

SOURCE

"Supreme Court Rules Racial Segregation in Public Education Unconstitutional," JFK +50, May 17, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/


President & Mrs. Kennedy with 
Chief Justice & Mrs. Warren
November 20, 1963
Photo by Robert LeRoy Knudsen
National Archives