Which court ruling did Brown v. Board of Education overturn?

Which court ruling did Brown v. Board of Education overturn?

• A. Dred Scott v. Sandford
• B. Plessy v. Ferguson
• C. Roe v. Wade
• D. Marbury v. Madison

Answer: (B)

Brown v. Board of Education tests how the Supreme Court can redefine protections of equality under the Constitution. It rejected the idea that racial segregation in public schools could be legal as long as facilities were “equal.” The ruling holds that separate facilities are inherently unequal, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, and it upended the long-standing doctrine that allowed segregation in public life. This change overturned the prior ruling that upheld segregation on the basis of “separate but equal.” The decision helped launch widespread desegregation in schools, even though implementation took time and faced resistance. Other cases mentioned deal with different issues—Roe v. Wade addresses abortion rights, Marbury v. Madison concerns judicial review, and Dred Scott v. Sandford tackled citizenship and slavery in a much earlier era—so they are not the focus of Brown’s series-shifting impact on school segregation.

Brown v. Board of Education tests how the Supreme Court can redefine protections of equality under the Constitution. It rejected the idea that racial segregation in public schools could be legal as long as facilities were “equal.” The ruling holds that separate facilities are inherently unequal, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, and it upended the long-standing doctrine that allowed segregation in public life.

This change overturned the prior ruling that upheld segregation on the basis of “separate but equal.” The decision helped launch widespread desegregation in schools, even though implementation took time and faced resistance.

Other cases mentioned deal with different issues—Roe v. Wade addresses abortion rights, Marbury v. Madison concerns judicial review, and Dred Scott v. Sandford tackled citizenship and slavery in a much earlier era—so they are not the focus of Brown’s series-shifting impact on school segregation.