The
Brown V. Board of Education Case
The Defenders of Segregation
In the Briggs V. Elliot Case, South Carolina got a very good team of attorneys to defend their right to segregate schools. Kansas, the Brown V. Board of Education case, only got one young hesitant attorney general. For their defense, these attorneys cited the Plessy v Ferguson case and argued that the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did not include or necessitate integration, and all of the states had tried their best to keep the facilities for both black and white people equal. The segregationists believed that blacks were still being treated unfairly because they still need time to get over the effects of slavery.
Photo of John Davis
Photo of Milton Korman
John Davis was the lead attorney chosen by South Carolina (Briggs v Elliot) in the Brown Case, and was a very strong advocate for segregation. Davis was a very successful and powerful constitutional lawyer at this time, in all of the country, and took the Brown Case without any fee in his private practice
James Lindsay Almond Jr. was the state attorney general and was the lead lawyer for Virginia (The Davis v. The School Board of Prince Edward County case). He argued that the white man never brought the "colored man" down, but only helped him rise to a place of respect with love and courtesy. After the Brown Decision, Almond Jr. continued to advocate for segregation is schools.
Photo of James Almond Jr. and John Davis
Milton Korman represented the District of Columbia (the Bolling V. Sharpe case) in the Brown v Board of Education case, and argued that the Supreme Court couldn't question the constitutionality of segregation in the city schools, because it was beyond their reach or jurisdiction, and only Congress could make or change the laws for Washington D.C.
Photo of Paul E. Wilson
Paul E. Wilson argued the Kansas case (The Brown v Board of Education of Topeka case) and was the most reluctant defenders of segregation in the Brown Case. He was hesitant because integration of two public schools in Topeka had already been initiated, but he still had to protect the laws of Kansas until the Supreme Court overruled the laws.
Photo of H. Albret Young
H. Albert Young argued the case for Delaware (Bulah V. Gebhart and Belton v Gebhart), and was at first unsure about defending segregation. He was, in a way, more liberal, because he had fought for women to serve on grand juries. He did argue for segregation but later on became the first state attorney to impose the Brown Case decision to ban segregation in public schools.