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The Conflict in Implementing Brown

This is the cover of Delaware’s Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown II, addressing the implementation challenges of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. It explores the concept of stare decisis and the relief to be granted, including the supervision of implementation by the Court or local federal courts, desegregation timelines, and consideration of community differences.

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The Conflict in Implementing Brown

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  1. The Conflict in Implementing Brown This is the cover of Delaware’s Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown II. • What are the names at the beginning of each paragraph? • Where have we seen these names before? • Who are the “petitioners”? • Who are the “respondents”?

  2. Focus Questions 1. What does stare decisis mean? 2. If the U.S. Supreme Court had used the principle of stare decisis to decide Brown v. the Board of Education, what do you think the decision would have been? 3. In your Homework Assignment you read Richard Kluger’s quote from Simple Justice. He wrote “(T)he school-segregation cases were not like most other cases that came before the Court. To start with, the Justices had reviewed earlier Court rulings on the question and pronounced them no longer applicable. Times and the nation had changed.” What does Kluger mean by this statement? How had times and the nation changed?

  3. After Brown I – What did the Court still need to decide?

  4. How to implement the decision – What relief to grant – including: • Should the implementation be supervised by the U.S. Supreme Court or by the federal courts at the local level involved in the original cases? • Should black children be admitted to all schools everywhere immediately or should the Court grant communities some period of time to desegregate their schools? If they were granted time, was this a break from the original concept Brown I? • Should there be any consideration of differences in different communities? For Example: Does it make a difference if there are just a few black children to place in a largely white school system or if the majority of the children are black and there would be just a few white children in the school? What if the relations between blacks and whites in one community are good and in another there is a history of violence.

  5. Delaware’s Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown II Note the names at the bottom of the cover page. These are the names and titles of the three attorney’s who prepared the Brief.

  6. Student Handout ! Directions: Comparison of Briefs Presented in Brown II from: Delaware and Virginia for the Defendants and Attorneys for the Plaintiff 1. Break into groups. Each student in the group should receive a Student Handout IB, IC or ID and one copy of Student Handout IA, the Comparison of the Briefs Chart.(IA). The groups should pick a group leader and a recorder to complete their portion of the chart. 2. Each member of the group should read the assigned excerpt from their brief and discuss it with other members of the group. As a group, discuss and answer the two questions at the bottom of the page. 3. The recorder should complete the Comparison of the Briefs Chart, including the goals and main arguments for each position. 4. The group leader should put the group’s answers to the questions on the Chart on the Board or on the flip charts. 5. Review and discuss the three Briefs with the whole class

  7. Read the Opening Section from the U.S. Supreme Court’s Opinion in Brown II

  8. Answer the following questions about the Opening Section • What fundamental principle was declared by the Court on May 17,1954? • Why did the Court ask for additional arguments on the case? • What does the Court mean by “relief” in this case? • Who did the Court decide should oversee implementation and what do you think it meant by the term “good faith implementation”?

  9. What did the Court Say About Community Differences and Time Limits? • Group II A: The Court agrees with arguments from ? Because? • Group II B: The Court agrees with the arguments from ? Because? • Group II C: The Court agrees with the arguments from ? Because? • Group II D: The Court agrees with the arguments from? Because?

  10. Answers Group II A: The Court agrees with the arguments from mostly the Plaintiff and Delaware because local courts may consider the community. However, the Constitution must be followed, meaning schools must desegregate. Group II B: The Court agrees with arguments from the Plaintiff, but also Virginia because, while local schools must show they are trying, it lets local courts allow additional time. There are no time limits on the amount of additional time. Group II C: The Court agrees with arguments from Delaware and Virginia because both want local courts to control and to consider local differences. Group II D: The Court agrees with the arguments from Virginia because no time limits is set. The term “all deliberate speed” is open to interpretation.

  11. Impact of the Decision and Review of Predictions • Explain the term “all deliberate speed” • Each of the parties in the case had certain objectives they wanted to achieve in the case. Which were achieved? Which did they fail to achieve? • What were your predictions? • How close were they to what the Court actually did?

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