Sweatt v. Painter et al. (339 U.S. 629)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 5, 1950 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 339 U.S. 629 · 70 S. Ct. 848
- Docket
- No. 44
- Argued
- April 4, 1950
- Decided
- June 5, 1950
- Term
- October Term 1949
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Vinson
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- State/territorial law held unconstitutional
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson (wrote), Justice Minton, Justice Clark, Justice Burton, Justice R. H. Jackson, Justice Douglas, Justice Frankfurter, Justice Reed, Justice Black
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Chief Justice Vinson delivered the opinion of the Court. This case and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, post, p. 637, present different aspects of this general question : To what extent does the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment limit the power of a state to distinguish between students of different races in professional and graduate education in a state university? Broader issues have been urged for our consideration, but we adhere to the principle of deciding constitutional questions only in the context of the particular case before the Court. We have frequently reiterated that this Court will decide constitutional questions only when necessary to the disposition of the case at hand, and that such decisions will be drawn as narrowly as possible. Rescue Army v. Municipal Court, 331 U. S. 549 (1947), and cases cited therein. Because of this traditional reluctance to extend constitutional interpretations to situations or facts which are not before the Court, much of the excellent research and detailed argument presented in these cases is unnecessary to their disposition. In the instant case, petitioner filed an application for admission to the University of Texas Law School for the February, 1946 term. His application was rejected solely because he is a Negro. Petitioner thereupon brought this suit for mandamus against the appropriate school officials,…
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