''Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma'', 332 U.S. 631 (1948), is a '' per curiam''

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decision involving racial segregation toward African Americans by the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

and the application of the

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Often considered as one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses citizenship rights and ...

Background

Ada Lois Sipuel (February 8, 1924 – October 18, 1995), born in

Chickasha, Oklahoma Chickasha is a city in and the county seat of Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,036 at the 2010 census. Chickasha is home to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. The city is named for and strongly connecte ...

, was the daughter of a minister. Her brother planned to challenge segregationist policies of the

but went to

Howard University Law School Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...

, in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, to avoid delaying his career further by protracted litigation. Ada Sipuel was willing to delay her legal career to challenge segregation. On January 14, 1946, she applied to the all-white

, then the only taxpayer-funded law school in Oklahoma. She was denied because of her race. She then petitioned the District Court of

Cleveland County, Oklahoma Cleveland County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 295,528 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the third-most populous county in Oklahoma. Its county seat is Norman. The county was named for ...

. Her writ of mandamus was denied. The

Oklahoma Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a court of appeal for non-criminal cases, one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and leads the judiciary of Oklahoma, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma.

upheld the decision of the lower district court (in 180 P.2d 135). The petitioners then appealed to the United States Supreme Court.

Decision

Two years later, in 1948, the United States Supreme Court heard the petition on January 7 and 8th, which stated that the "petitioner is entitled to secure legal education afforded by a state institution." They continued, "The State must provide it for her in conformity with the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and provide it as soon as it does for applicants of any other group." Citing the 1938 case ''

Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada ''Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada'', 305 U.S. 337 (1938), was a United States Supreme Court decision holding that states which provided a school to white students had to provide in-state education to blacks as well. States could satisfy this ...

'', a case in which "

Lloyd Gaines Lloyd Lionel Gaines (born 1911 – disappeared March 19, 1939) was the plaintiff in ''Gaines v. Canada'' (1938), one of the most important early court cases in the 20th-century U.S. civil rights movement. After being denied admission to the U ...

, a negro, was refused admission to the School of Law of the University of Missouri". The petitioners, acting on behalf of Miss Sipuel, were

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

of New York City, and Amos Hall, of

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

(also on the brief Frank D. Reeves). The respondents, representing the defendants, the university and the State of Oklahoma, were Fred Hansen, of

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, the First Assistant Attorney General of Oklahoma, and Maurice H. Merrill, of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

(also on the brief Mac Q. Williamson, Attorney General). This was a landmark case in the early civil rights movement. The case reversed '' Lee v. State of Mississippi'', and was also a precursor for '' Brown v. Board of Education''. Only four days after argument, on January 12, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Sipuel. The court ruled that the state of Oklahoma must provide instruction for Blacks equal to that of Whites, requiring the admission of qualified black students to previously all-white state law schools, reversing the Supreme Court of Oklahoma decision. In 1950, the Supreme Court again ruled unanimously in ''

Sweatt v. Painter ''Sweatt v. Painter'', 339 U.S. 629 (1950), was a U.S. Supreme Court case that successfully challenged the "separate but equal" doctrine of racial segregation established by the 1896 case ''Plessy v. Ferguson''. The case was influential in the lan ...

'', a case in which Herman Marion Sweatt was refused admission to the University of Texas School of Law on the grounds that the

Texas State Constitution The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that establishes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of Texas, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of Texas. The current document was adopted on Feb ...

prohibited integrated education.

Aftermath

According to

Supreme Court Associate Justice An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1 ...

John Paul Stevens John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-oldes ...

, who sat in the gallery and watched Marshall argue the case before the court on January 8, 1948, Marshall was "respectful, forceful and persuasive – so persuasive that on the following Monday – only four days after the argument – the Court unanimously ruled in Sipuel's favor." In addition, Ada Sipuel was "not only an excellent student, but was welcomed by her classmates who did not agree with the exclusionary policy that the State had unsuccessfully tried to defend." Address to the American Bar Association – John Paul Stevens – August 6, 2005/ref> A garden, between Jacobson Hall and Carpenter Hall, on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, now stands in honor of the event.

References

External links

* {{US14thAmendment, equalprotection 1948 in United States case law Civil rights movement case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Vinson Court United States equal protection case law 1948 in Oklahoma Legal history of Oklahoma University of Oklahoma United States school desegregation case law United States lawsuits African-American history of Oklahoma Thurgood Marshall

Background

Decision

Aftermath

See also

References

External links