Still Separate & Unequal: Evaluating the Legacy of Brown

In this webinar from May 17, 2023, the Gault Center kicked off the 70th year of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

Nearly 70 years ago, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment. Specifically, the Court acknowledged that separating children “from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone. The decision explicitly declared separate educational facilities based on race were inherently unequal. Just one year later, the Court decreed schools could desegregate “with all deliberate speed.

Today, schools are more segregated than ever. According to a 2022 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, K-12 public schools are still highly segregated along racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines. Black, Latino/a, and Native/Indigenous students are more likely to attend a school with a law enforcement officer, more likely to be referred to law enforcement, and more likely to be arrested at school. Public schools with higher percentages of Black students and students from low-income families are more likely to have tough security measures like metal detectors, random “contraband” sweeps, security guards, and security cameras, even when controlling for the level of serious misconduct in schools or violence in school neighborhoods.

This webinar featured youth defenders who are actively working to combat the school-to-prison pipeline in three areas: school pushout and exclusionary discipline, delinquency defense for school-based offenses, and school reentry after legal system involvement.

Featuring:

Special remarks by
Liz Ryan, Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention

A panel discussion moderated by
Prof. Michael Pinard, Co-Director of the Clinical Law Program at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and Gault Center Board Member

Youth defender panelists
Angela Chang (Hamilton County, OH), Taofik Hassan (Cook County, IL), Brittany Mobley (Washington DC), and Chris Sailer (Knox County, TN)