Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and Its Decision essays

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and It's Decision essays There have been many attempts to look at the decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and claim it was erroneous in some respect. One of the most often used is the social policy' argument. Some constitutional scholars believe that the Supreme Court went too far in the decision, far beyond deciding the single issue involved. That issue concerned the need for an African American little girl to go to a black school that required of her a dangerous walk through a rail yard rather than a pleasant walk to a closer school that was all white. It is easy to argue that any decision of any reasonably lofty court in the land makes social policy decisions without benefit of election. Indeed, even lowly courtscity courts in small townsmake social policy decisions by virtue of the need to interpret the law when passing judgment or imposing sentences. A judge in a small town in New York State, for example, gives everyone convicted in his court the lightest possible sentence, 60 days plus two years of parole. Why' Because he knows the career criminals will violate their parole, and then it's an automatic five years up the river, no appeal, no questions asked. (Personal knowledge via In effect, that judge is making social policy. Therefore, criticism of the unanimous ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka on the grounds that it made social policy is relatively ludicrous. If it is all right for small courts in small towns to make social policy by engineering its use of statutory punishments, then assuredly it would be even more acceptable when the arguably wisest judicial minds sitting on the bench in the United States do the same thing. If the Court did make social policyas arguably it didthere is every reason to believe that the society was ready for the policy being made. The...