Evening star., 1953-12-13

did not apply to the entire Ma
tion, nor was its legality sure
thing. Slavery did stop with the
18th amendment, but many rights
still were withheld from Negroes
in some States.
So the 14th amendment was
adopted in 1868 to specify that thee
States could not "abridge the
privileges or immunities of citizens
Of the United States deprive
any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process Of
law :. or deny to any person equal
protection of the laws"
For many years there were court
disputes over the meaning of those
words, particularly over their ap-
plication to segregation laws; but
finally in 1895. the Supreme Court
laid down this rule of thumb: Seq
regation based on race was con-
Stitutional if the facilities provided
for each group were substantially
equal.
That ruling, the famous PleSSy
DS. Ferguson case, has been the
law on segregation ever since.
Arguments at Bor
But it may not be the law for
long, If attorneys who addressed
the Supreme Court last week con-
vinced at least five justices that
separate but equal" Is unconsti-
tutional.
Ultimately at stake in the pend
ing cases are Negro rights in many
areas Of legal segregation, but i'm
mediately at stake Is the right Of
Negroes in certain school districts
OF Virginia, South Carolina, Dela-
ware and Kansas to attend schools
now reserved for white children.
A separate case argued before
the high court at the same time
would affect school segregation in
the District of Columbia. But that
case was based on the fifth amend
ment. which says the Federal Gov
eminent may not deprive person
Of "hfe, liberty, or property, with
out due process of law" District
laws. of course, stem directly from
the Federal Government.)
The court wanted to consider all
flve cases at once, and 1t wanted
arguments to stress the constitu-
tional issues. That indicated the
Supreme Court was preparing to
make another decision on segrega-
ton that could be as important az
was Plessy Us. Ferguson.
But whether the 1896 ruling
would be upheld or overthrown or
perhaps just bypassed, few vet
eran court observers were willing
to guess.
Opposing Views
Here were the arguments the
court heard last week:
The States said that the 18th
amendment did not apply to school
segregation; that the Congress
which wrote the amendment also
wrote laws for segregated schools
In the District; that Supreme Court
rulings had indicated that school
segregation was not banned by the
amendment, and that white and
colored children were happier and
better of In schools with members
Of their own race.
The District government said
that segregation here was required
by laws Of Congress and that those
laws did not violate the nth
amendment. The District did not
say whether it thought segrega-
ton was good or bad.
The Negro children's lawyers
said that segregation laws did de-
prive Negroes of rights without
"due process Of law; that "sepa-
rate but equal" had been uncon.
stitutional all along; that Congress
had passed no laws making seq
regation mandatory here, and that
segregation of school children was
wrong in the eyes Of persons all
over the world.
The Justice Department, which
stepped into the case to help out
as friend of the court" said
the history of the 18th amend
ment was inconclusive as to
whether or not it banned school
segregation, but that it was the
position of the Justice Department
that segregation in the public
schools cannot be maintained
under the 14th amendment"
It probably will take the court
until next June to digest the oral
arguments and study the reams of
documents submitted by both sides
in the case-plus the material
submitted last year during the
first set Of hearings on the five
cases. (See articles on Page CA
and C-5 for legal and local ques-
tions in the segregation case.)