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This Supreme Court case, which was decided on May 17, 1954, was a very influential factor in the Civil Rights Movement. Linda Brown was denied admission to an elementary school in Topeka because she was black. The main question of the case was "Does the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment prohibit racial segregation in the public schools?" The Court decided in a unanimous opinion that, according to the Chief Justice Earl Warren, "separate equcation facilities are inherently unequal" and that the racial segregation of schools is in direct violation of the 14th Amendment. This decision did not bring about the total integration of the public school system, but it helped remove the racial imbalance within the system by busing in many black students into the white schools.
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