Cooper v. Aaron

Facts

In May 1954 the Supreme Court decided in Brown v. Board of Education that enforced racial segregation in public schools denies equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Little Rock School Board then prepared a desegregation plan, which it approved on May 24, 1955. The plan began with the senior high schools in the fall of 1957 and expected complete desegregation by 1963. The federal District Court and the Court of Appeals upheld it. Meanwhile, other Arkansas officials worked to keep segregation in place. In November 1956 the state constitution was amended to command the legislature to oppose the Brown decisions, and in February 1957 the legislature passed more laws. Nine Black children were scheduled to enter Central High School in September 1957. On September 2, 1957, the Governor sent National Guard troops to the school and placed it off limits to them. The school authorities had not asked for troops. The Guard kept the children out for three weeks, until a federal court enjoined the Governor. When the children then entered, a large crowd gathered and officers removed them. On September 25 the President sent federal troops. Eight of the children stayed through the school year. In February 1958 the Board asked to postpone its plan for two and one-half years because of public hostility, which it said state officials had largely caused.

Issues

1. Can a school board's good faith, and the disorder and hostility that state officials caused, justify postponing a court-approved desegregation plan for two and one-half years?
2. Are a state's governor and legislature bound by this Court's interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment in Brown v. Board of Education, so that they cannot nullify it?

Holding

The Board's good faith and the disorder created by state officials did not justify a two-and-one-half-year postponement of desegregation. Brown's interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment binds state officials, who may not nullify it directly or by evasive schemes. The Court affirmed the Court of Appeals' reversal.