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McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents

 

 
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McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents
 
 
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McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, 339 U.S. 637
Case citation

Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called Reporter s or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported....
 (1950), was a United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
 case that reversed a lower court decision upholding the efforts of the state-supported University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma, abbreviated OU, is a coeducational public university research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma....
 to adhere to the state law requiring African-Americans to be provided instruction on a segregated
Racial segregation

File:Segregated cinema entrance3.jpgRacial segregation is the separation of different Race s in daily life, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a drinking fountain, using a rest room, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home....
 basis.

The United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
 ruled that a public institution of higher learning
Public university

A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private university....
 could not provide different treatment to a student solely because of his/her race as doing so deprived the student of his/her Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is one of the post-American Civil War Reconstruction Amendments that was first intended to secure the rights of former Slavery in the United States....
 rights of Equal Protection.

The plaintiff
Plaintiff

A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy, and if successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the plaintiff and make the appropriate court order ....
, George McLaurin, was first denied admission to the University of Oklahoma to pursue a postgraduate course in education.






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McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, 339 U.S. 637
Case citation

Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called Reporter s or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported....
 (1950), was a United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
 case that reversed a lower court decision upholding the efforts of the state-supported University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma, abbreviated OU, is a coeducational public university research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma....
 to adhere to the state law requiring African-Americans to be provided instruction on a segregated
Racial segregation

File:Segregated cinema entrance3.jpgRacial segregation is the separation of different Race s in daily life, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a drinking fountain, using a rest room, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home....
 basis.

The United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
 ruled that a public institution of higher learning
Public university

A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private university....
 could not provide different treatment to a student solely because of his/her race as doing so deprived the student of his/her Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is one of the post-American Civil War Reconstruction Amendments that was first intended to secure the rights of former Slavery in the United States....
 rights of Equal Protection.

The plaintiff
Plaintiff

A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy, and if successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the plaintiff and make the appropriate court order ....
, George McLaurin, was first denied admission to the University of Oklahoma to pursue a postgraduate course in education. McLaurin successfully sued in the US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma to gain admission to the institution (87 F. Supp. 526; 1948 U.S. Dist.) basing his argument on the Fourteenth Amendment. The court found that the university's inaction in providing separate facilities, in order to meet Oklahoma state law, allowing McLaurin to attend the institution was a violation of his Constitutional rights. However the court did not issue any injunctive relief as requested by the plaintiff but rather relied "on the assumption that the law having been declared, the State will comply."

The University admitted McLaurin but provided him separate facilities, including a special table in the cafeteria, a designated desk in the library, and a desk just outside the classroom doorway.

McLaurin returned to the US District court and petitioned to require the University of Oklahoma to remove the separate facilities allowing him to fully interact with the other students (87 F. Supp. 528; 1949 U.S. Dist.) The court denied McLaurin's petition.

McLaurin then appealed to the US Supreme Court, which subsequently reversed the decision of the US District Court, requiring the University of Oklahoma to remove the restrictions under which McLaurin was attending the institution.

See also

  • Sweatt v. Painter
    Sweatt v. Painter

    'Sweatt v. Painter', , was a Supreme Court of the United States case that successfully challenged the "separate but equal" doctrine of racial segregation established by the 1896 case Plessy v....
    , 339 U.S. 629
    Case citation

    Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called Reporter s or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported....
     (1950).
  • List of landmark African-American legislation
    List of landmark African-American legislation

    This is a list of landmark List of United States federal legislation, List of United States Supreme Court cases, Executive order s, and proclamations in the United States significantly affecting African Americans....
  • List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 339
    List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 339

    This is a list of all the Supreme Court of the United States cases from volume 339 of the United States Reports:* District of Columbia v. Little, ...


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