The Power of Precedent
The American legal system is based on the principle of stare decisis—legal precedent establishes the law. The strategy of civil rights lawyers was to get the Supreme Court to make a series of judgments in support of racial integration. These judgments became legal precedents and the foundation for dismantling segregation in public schools.
The legal precedents:
- 1938 Missouri ex. rel. Gaines v. Canada
- 1948 Sipuel v. Oklahoma State Regents
- 1950 McLaurin v. Oklahoma
- 1950 Sweatt v. Painter
Missouri ex. rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938)
In the 1930s no state-funded law schools in Missouri admitted African American students. With guidance from NAACP lawyers, Lloyd Gaines, applied to the University of Missouri law school. Denied admission, Gaines was offered a scholarship to an out-of-state school. Gaines then sued the law school.
When the case reached the Supreme Court, Charles Houston persuaded the justices that offering Gaines an out-of-state scholarship was no substitute for admission. The court ruled that the state either had to establish an equal facility or admit him.
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