Abstract:Introduction The Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) has been justifiably hailed as one of the most important decisions ever rendered by the Supreme Court. Despite t...Introduction The Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) has been justifiably hailed as one of the most important decisions ever rendered by the Supreme Court. Despite the fact that the Brown court obviously reached the correct result, it has never been free of its detractors. Among its most prominent critics was Herbert Wechsler, who was especially critical of the social science evidence used as a partial basis for the decision. While it is likely that the Brown decision would have met with hostility from most proponents of segregation regardless of its basis, the case would rest on a much more sound footing if the Brown court had paid more attention to the history of the Thirteenth Amendment and its accompanying case law. In choosing to focus on the Fourteenth Amendment and the cases interpreting it, the Brown court overlooked a great deal of evidence indicating that equal access to education (and equal protection in general) was guaranteed to all citizens by the Thirteenth Amendment. This evidence is found throughout the legislative history and early case law interpreting the Thirteenth Amendment. In focusing on the FourteenthRead More
Publication Year: 1923
Publication Date: 1923-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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