Griffin v. School Board of Prince Edward County (1963)
- Docket
- 592
- Decided
- 1963-01-01
Summary
Question: Does the closing of the Prince Edward County public schools deny the African American students in the county equal protection under the law as guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment? Conclusion: Yes. Justice Hugo L. Black authored the opinion of the 7-2 majority, in which the Court held that the closing of the county’s schools denied the African American children an education that was available to their white peers. Although the closing of public schools is not unconstitutional in itself, when schools are closed for the express purpose of denying education to a group of children based on race, the action violates the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court also held that the district court had the power to order the county to collect the necessary taxes and to reopen the public schools. In a jointly filed dissenting opinion, Justice Tom C. Clark and Justice John M. Harlan disagreed with the holding that the district court could order the county to reopen the public schools.