Short summaries of key court cases with links for more information.
Delgado et al vs. Bastrop Independent School District
In 1948, a group of professionals filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a group of Mexican-American children attending the racially segregated schools in four Texas school districts.
Roberto Alvarez vs. the Lemon Grove School Board
On January 5, 1931, Jerome T. Green, principal of the Lemon Grove Grammar School, barred 75 children of Mexican descent from entering his school...
Mendez vs. Westminster and the California Board of Education
In March of 1945, Latino parents in Orange County, California confronted the segregation of their children into "Mexican Schools."
Sweatt vs. Painter
In 1946, Herman Marion Sweatt, a Black man, applied for admission to the University of Texas Law School.
McLaurin vs. Oklahoma State Regents
McLaurin, a Black citizen of Oklahoma possessing a master’s degree, was admitted to the graduate school of the state-supported University of Oklahoma as a...
Brown vs. Board of Education
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that compulsory segregation of races in public schools was unconstitutional.
Rodríguez vs. San Antonio Independent School District
In 1969, Demetrio Rodríguez and the Edgewood Concerned Parents Association filed suit against the San Antonio Independent School District (ISD), Edgewood ISD and five other districts.
U.S. vs. Texas
In 1970, the federal government sought to desegregate two contiguous school districts, one predominantly White (Del Rio ISD) and the other with majority Latino students (San Felipe ISD).
Lau vs. Nichols 1973
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the San Francisco school system violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by denying non-English speaking students
Plyler vs. Doe
In Texas, state and local school officials proposed to deny access to public schools to children of undocumented workers.
Edgewood vs. Kirby
In 1984, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) filed suit on behalf of poor districts against the Texas commissioner of education.
Hopwood vs. The State of Texas
This reverse discrimination suit was brought in September of 1992 in U.S. District Court.
Gratz vs. Bollinger
Petitioners Gratz and Hamacher, both of whom are Michigan residents and White, applied for admission to the University of Michigan and were denied admission.
Grutter vs. Bollinger
Grutter is a White applicant who was ultimately denied admission to the University of Michigan Law School in the 1997.
