Earl Warren

Yates v. United States Limits Smith Act Prosecutions, Supreme Court Begins Retreat from McCarthyism

| Importance: 7/10

On June 17, 1957, the Supreme Court issued three decisions that significantly limited McCarthyist overreach: Yates v. United States, Watkins v. United States, and Service v. Dulles. Known as “Red Monday” to conservative critics, these rulings began the judicial rollback of the security …

Earl Warren U.S. Supreme Court Oleta O'Connor Yates Communist Party USA Department of Justice civil-liberties judicial first-amendment mccarthyism red-scare +1 more
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Brown II Orders Desegregation with "All Deliberate Speed," Enabling Decade of Resistance

| Importance: 8/10

On May 31, 1955, one year after declaring school segregation unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court issued Brown II, its implementation ruling. Rather than setting firm deadlines or providing specific remedies, the Court ordered desegregation proceed “with all …

Earl Warren U.S. Supreme Court NAACP Legal Defense Fund Thurgood Marshall Southern state governments civil-rights segregation judicial democratic-erosion massive-resistance
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Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Decision Declares School Segregation Unconstitutional

| Importance: 10/10

On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The Court declared that racial segregation in public schools violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, …

Earl Warren Thurgood Marshall NAACP Legal Defense Fund U.S. Supreme Court civil-rights institutional-racism judicial democratic-erosion segregation
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State Loyalty Oaths Spread as California Passes Levering Act, Requires Public Employee Pledges

| Importance: 7/10

In 1950, California passed the Levering Act, requiring all state employees to sign a loyalty oath swearing they did not belong to organizations advocating overthrow of the government. The law followed a bitter fight at the University of California that had already fired 31 faculty members for …

California Legislature Earl Warren University of California Board of Regents American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) mccarthyism civil-liberties academic-freedom red-scare political-persecution +1 more
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