Judicial · Federal
Brown v. Board of Education overturns 'separate but equal'
- Direction
- +2 — major benefit to Freedmen
- Force
- 1.00 — enacted, vetoed, or final
- Status
- Decided
- Date
- 1954-05-17
Why this rating
Decided May 17, 1954, Brown v. Board of Education held that racially segregated public schools are inherently unequal, overturning Plessy. Rated +2: a direct, large-scale dismantling of the legal architecture of segregation that had harmed the lineage for 58 years, with force of Supreme Court precedent.
Summary
Decided May 17, 1954, Brown v. Board of Education held that racially segregated public schools are inherently unequal, overturning Plessy. Rated +2: a direct, large-scale dismantling of the legal architecture of segregation that had harmed the lineage for 58 years, with force of Supreme Court precedent.
Sources
- Brown v. Board of Education (1954) — National Archives — court opinion · primary · historical
Rated under the published impact rubric. Direction records what a measure would do if fully effective; force records how far it has actually travelled. Neither is inferred — both trace to the sources above. Think something here is wrong? Tell us and we will log the correction.