Warren Court

The Brown Decision

Shortly after his appointment as Chief Justice, Warren led a Bench of strong-willed, divided jurists to repudiate the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson doctrine of “separate but equal” that led to segregation of races in public schools. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), or “Brown I,” was a landmark opinion in correcting historical racial injustice in public schools.

Warren was a results-oriented jurist who often left the legal writing and articulation to the expertise of Associate Justices Black and Brennan. At the same time, Warren had a political touch, as reflected by his using fairness and justice to encourage his judicial colleagues to set aside their limited views of the Supreme Court's role.

As author of the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Brown I, Warren asked whether segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives them of equal educational opportunities. In answering his own question, Warren indicated that segregation causes children to experience feelings of inferiority, while retarding their social and intellectual development. He added that in the field of public education, the notion of “separate but equal” has no place, insofar as separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

In 1955, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka II, under Warren's guidance, the justices delegated the job of carrying out desegregation with “all deliberate speed” to federal trial courts. Still, it took time to implement desegregation fully, and the issue still confronts society.

Reactions to Brown I and II were formidable, especially in the American South. Disputes over the integration of Little Rock, Arkansas, eventually led President Eisenhower to call out federal troops to ensure safety of African American students entering Central High School. Further, the Supreme Court had to intervene in that dispute, in Cooper v. Aaron (1958). Other states supported private schools and in some cases closed public schools for short periods of time in order to avoid desegregation. Consequently, signs posted throughout the South and elsewhere called for Warren's impeachment.

The Chief Justice

Throughout his 16 years as chief justice, from 1953 to 1969, Warren led the Supreme Court to expand social and economic justice in the nation. Born in Los Angeles to Norwegian and Swedish immigrants, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, receiving his law degree in 1914. Warren had a unique ability to unite people.

...