Chapter 5 Court Cases

Dred Scott v. Sandford

The 1857 Supreme Court decision ruling that a slave who had escaped to a free state enjoyed no rights as a citizen and that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories.

Plessy v. Ferguson

An 1896 Supreme Court decision that provided a constitutional justification for segregation by ruling that a Louisiana law requiring "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races" was constitutional.

Brown v. Board of Education

The 1954 Supreme Court decision holding that school segregation is inherently unconstitutional because it violates the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. This case marked the end of legal segregation in the United States.

Hernandez v. Texas

A 1954 Supreme Court decision that extended protection against discrimination to Latinos.

Korematsu v. United States

A 1944 Supreme Court decision that upheld as constitutional the internment of more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent in encampments during World War Il. It was overturned by the Court in 2018.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

A 1978 Supreme Court decision holding that a state university may weigh race or ethnic background as one element in admissions but may not set aside places for members of particular racial groups.