Citations 175 U.S. 528 (more) | End date 1899 | |
Full case name J. W. Cumming, James S. Harper, and John C. Ladeveze, Plaintiffs in Error,
v.
County Board of Education of Richmond County, State of Georgia Majority Harlan, joined by unanimous Ruling court Supreme Court of the United States Similar Lum v Rice, Missouri ex rel Gaines v Canada, Sipuel v Board of Regents, McLaurin v Oklahoma State Reg, Sweatt v Painter | ||
Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education, 175 U.S. 528 (1899) ("Richmond") was a class action suit decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. It is a landmark case, in that it sanctioned de jure segregation of races in American schools. The decision was overruled by Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
Contents
Underlying suits
The plaintiffs, "Cumming, Harper and Ladeveze, citizens of Georgia and persons of color suing on behalf of themselves and all others in like case joining with them," originally filed suit by petition against the "Board of Education of Richmond County" (the "Board") and one "Charles S. Bohler, tax collector" in the Superior Court of Richmond County, claiming among other causes of action, that a $45,000 tax levied against the county for primary, intermediate, grammar and high schools was illegal insofar as the high schools of the county were exclusively for white students, and seeking an injunction barring the collection of so much of the total amount as was earmarked for the white only high school system.
County was reversed upon the ground that it erred in granting an injunction against the Board of Education. In accordance with that decision, the Superior Court upon the return of the cause from the Supreme Court of the State, refused the relief asked by the plaintiffs and dismissed their petition. Thereafter, the plaintiffs appealed that order to the United States Supreme Court as being in derogation of their rights under the Constitution of the United States. The Supreme Court affirmed.
U.S. Supreme Court case
The Supreme Court's decision predicates its affirmance on economic arguments, among others. It claims that there are many more colored children than white children in the area, and that the Board could not afford to supply everyone with education. The court argued that there was a choice between educating 60 white children and educating no one.
The Supreme Court denied that it had any jurisdiction to interfere in the decisions of the state courts. The decision states in pertinent part:
The 'hostility to the colored population' is addressed in the final remark as follows:
Justice John Marshall Harlan, who was the lone dissenter in Plessy v. Ferguson, wrote the majority for the court.