Sweatt v. Painter

Summary

The Supreme Court held that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires the University of Texas Law School to admit a Negro student, as the separate law school offered by the state did not provide substantially equal educational opportunities. The Court found that the University of Texas Law School had a superior faculty, library, and reputation, and that the separate law school for Negroes lacked these qualities. The decision was a significant step towards ending segregation in education.

Holdings

1. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment required Texas to provide Sweatt with legal education substantially equal to that offered to white students, and the separate law school offered by Texas was not substantially equal.
2. Plessy v. Ferguson did not require affirmance because the separate law school did not provide substantially equal educational opportunities.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Texas violated the Equal Protection Clause by denying Sweatt admission to the University of Texas Law School solely because of his race.
2. Whether Texas could satisfy the Equal Protection Clause by providing Black students with a separate law school that lacked educational opportunities and institutional qualities substantially equivalent to those of the University of Texas Law School.
3. Whether Plessy v. Ferguson required affirmance of the Texas judgment.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded