Green v. School Board of New Kent County

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Green v. School Board of New Kent County
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 3, 1968 Decided May 27, 1968
Full case name: Charles C. Green et al. v. County School Board of New Kent County, Virginia et al. Citations: 391 U.S. 430; 88 S.Ct. 1689, 20 L.Ed.2d 716 Prior history: 382 F.2d 338 (4th Cir. 1967), cert. granted, 389 U.S. 1003.
Holding
New Kent County's desegregation plan did not comply with the dictates of Brown v. Board of Education, 349 U.S. 294 (1955), and was therefore unconstitutional.
Court membership
Chief Justice: Earl Warren Associate Justices: Hugo Black, William O. Douglas, John Marshall Harlan II, William J. Brennan, Potter Stewart, Byron White, Abe Fortas, Thurgood Marshall
Case opinions
Majority by: Brennan Joined by: Warren, Black, Douglas, Harlan, Stewart, White, Fortas, Marshall
Laws applied
U.S. Const., amend. XIV

Green v. School Board of New Kent County, 391 U.S. 430 (1968), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that a "freedom-of-choice" plan which the School Board of New Kent County, Virginia had adopted violated the requirements set forth in Brown v. Board of Education, 349 U.S. 294 (1955) (Brown II). The plan allowed parents to choose to send their children to one of two schools. White families almost uniformly chose the white-identified school, and blacks, out of fear of violence, retaliation, or hostility, almost uniformly chose the black-identified school. While the Court did not rule that such plans were always unconstitutional, it did note that they tended to be ineffective at desegregating a school system, and held that in New Kent County's case the freedom-of-choice plan violated the Constitution.