THE SPHINX9 90th Anniversary Limited Edition
POOTNOTES I
* Bro. Jonathan C. (Jay) Augustine, a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and a member of the Baton Rouge, LA Beta lota Lambda Chapter, is a commercial litigation and employment law attorney with Middleberg, Riddle & Gianna. Bro. Augustine earned a B.A. from Howard University where he was initialed into the fraternity's Beta Chapter. He also served as a decorated U.S. Army officer before earning his J.D. from Tulane University Law School. Bro. Augustine began his legal career as a law clerk to Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson. The author wishes to thank Bro. Earl Doomes of Beta Iota Lambda Chapter and his wife, Mrs. Erin Wilder-Doomes, Esq., for the pictures published with this article. Mrs. Doomes is a nadve "f Topeka. Kansas and the granddaughter of Mr. Joe Douglas, a former member of the Shawnee County School Board (the defendant in Brown v. Hoard of Education) and the award-winning photographer who captured the images contained herein. 347 U.S. 438 (1954) (hereinafter Broum or Brown I). Brown was initially argued during the Supreme Court's 1952 term. Subsequent arguments were heard in 1953, with the final argument on December 8th. Five months later, the Court overturned 'separate but equal" and legally ended segregation in public education. " The "Separate but Equal" doctrine was originally introduced by the Supreme Court in its infamous decision Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 5.37 (1896). In essence, the Court ruled that as long as state-funded facilities were equal, they could legally be separate under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
-See 347 U.S. at 486, note 1.
'"See 28 U.S.C. ยง 125.3. 15
See Broum, note 1, supra, at 492. In Mclmirin r. Oklahoma Stale Regents, 339 U.S. 637 (1950) and Sweat! v. fainter. 550 U.S. 629 (1050). two cases also argued by Bro. Thurgood Marshall, the Court expressly reserved decision on the issue of whether Plessy v. Ferguson should apply to public education. "' Bro. Thurgood Marshall argued both Sweat! and McLaurin on the same das in April 1950. Shortly after he completed oral arguments, his friend and mentor, Bro. Charles Hamilton Houston, died of a heart attack. The Supreme Court ruled favorably to Bro. Marshall in both cases. Inherently, the Court took into consideration the harmful psychological effects of black students segregated in law and graduate schools. See Brown, 347 U.S. at 493; see also Lisa Aldread, supra, note 3, at 70. " Brown, 347 U.S. at 493 (emphasis added). '* See id. at 494, note 11 (citing K.B. Clark. Effect of Prejudice and Discrimination on Personality Development (Mid-century White House Conference on Children & Youth, 1950) (other citations omitted). '" Brown, 347 U.S. at 495 (emphasis added). 2,1
' The legal strategy to launch a frontal assault on segregation in public education wis the brainchild of Bro. Charles Hamilton Houston. Bro. Houston, who served as a professor and dean of Howard University Law School, was the first black student editor of the Harvard Law Review. He died before the cases comprising Brown reached the United States Supreme Court. Bro. Houston was a close friend and mentor to Bro. Thurgood Marshall, a legendary Alpha who graduated valedictorian of Howard law School's Class of 1933. In 1967, Bro. Marshall went on to serve as the first African-American associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. See, generally. Lisa Aldread, THURGOOD MARSHALL: SUPREME COURT JUSTICE (Chelsa House Pub. 1990) (hereinafter "Lisa Aldread"). 4
Id. at 495-06.
II
Brown II, 349 I .S. 204 (1055). is the case where, in an effort to expedite desegregation of public schools, the Court issued die famous order "with all deliberate speed." 340 U.S. at 300. 22
See, generally, Juan Williams, THURGOOD MARSHALL: AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY. Chpt.
20 at 197 (Random House 1998). 23
See id. at 199-200..
21
Id at 201.
163 U.S. at 537, supra, note 2. 2
Mr. Plessy was of a seven-eights Caucasian and one-eighth African-American bloodline. ' 163 U.S. at 5.38. *eiV/at530. 'id. a
Unlike normal matters where a trial court has original jurisdiction over a case and/or controversy, only the Louisiana Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over matters where a judge's conduct is at issue.
' See id. at 202; see also Carl T. Rowan, DREAM MAKERS, DREAMS BREAKERS: THE. WORLD OF JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL, Chpt. 1 at 15 (Little Brown & Co. 1005). 2(1
See Juan Williams, supra, note 21.
27
438 U.S. 265(1978).
28
On an extremely personal and sentimental note, when the author was a college brother in Beta Chapter, his first Omega Chapter service was when Mu Lambda Chapter said good-bye to Bro. Marshall at Howard University's Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel. M
539 U.S. 306 (2003).
311
438 U.S. at 325.
The Court addressed separate but equal educational facilities under the Fourteenth Amendment in Berea v. College of Kentucky, 211 U.S. 45 (1908). In Plessy, the issue of "separate hut equal" was limited to the context of transportation and facilities engaged in com merce. Therefore, the infamous 1896 case did not squarely address inequalities in segregated educational facilides.
31
Id. at 408.
52
Id. at 31.5.
The common legal issue presented in all the cases was whether the Equal Protection Clause >f the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited racial segregation in State-funded educational facilities. The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868 -as part of the Reconstruction Era, only applied to the suites. Consequently; the "fifth case" from the District of Columbia is not discussed herein because the Equal Protection Clause did not technically apply 'o the District.
;
163 U.S. at 544 (emphasis added).
a
Id. at 315. ' Supra, note 20.
(
โ ข" 530 U.S. at 3.32.