Ferguson 58 years later in 1954 in Brown v. The Supreme Court unanimously reversed Plessy v. Although the decision was related to the segregation of African American students, in many parts of the country Native American, Asian, and Hispanic students were also routinely segregated. Ferguson that "separate but equal" public facilities, including school systems, are constitutional. Supreme Court issued its now infamous decision in Plessy v. This amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, declares in part: "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Many of the cases discussed in this section are based on the due process and the equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. In this section we briefly review some of these cases and related legislation.įirst, however, we must consider the 14th Amendment to the U.S.
The court decisions that grew out of these lawsuits have led to legislative changes that have helped to shape the policy climate of today. Historical reluctance by many states throughout the country to provide equitable educational opportunities to ELL and other minority students and controversies over the use of languages other than English in public schools have sparked a large number of lawsuits that address these issues.
Important Court Decisions and Legislation