The U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a landmark decision that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, effectively overturning the "separate but equal" principle established by the earlier Plessy v. Ferguson case. The plaintiffs were thirteen Topeka parents who sued on behalf of their 20 children, arguing that segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In a unanimous decision led by Chief Justice Earl Warren in 1954, the court ruled that even if segregated black and white schools were of equal quality in facilities and teachers, segregation itself was harmful to black students and inherently unequal. This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory for civil rights movement.

The landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education did not have a dissenting opinion. The Supreme Court's decision was unanimous, with all nine justices agreeing that racial segregation in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S Constitution. This clause guarantees all citizens equal protection under law and prohibits states from denying any person within its jurisdiction this protection. The court ruled that "in the field of public education, 'separate but equal' has no place," as segregated schools are inherently unequal, thus overturning Plessy v Ferguson (1896) which had upheld state-sponsored segregation if facilities were deemed "equal".