Smith et al. v. Gaines is a United States Supreme Court case that was decided in 1875. The case involved a dispute between two parties over the ownership of a piece of land in the state of Missouri. The plaintiff, Smith, claimed that he had purchased the land from the defendant, Gaines, in 1867. Gaines, however, argued that he had never sold the land to Smith and that he was still the rightful owner. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with Smith, ruling that he was the rightful owner of the land. The Court held that Smith had provided sufficient evidence to prove that he had purchased the land from Gaines in 1867. The Court also noted that Gaines had failed to provide any evidence to support his claim that he had never sold the land. As a result, the Court ruled in favor of Smith and held that he was the rightful owner of the land.

Justice McLean wrote a dissenting opinion in the case of Smith et al. v. Gaines, arguing that the majority decision was wrongfully decided and should be overturned. He argued that Missouri had not violated any constitutional rights by denying Edward Gaines admission to its state university solely because he was African American; rather, it had simply chosen to provide separate educational facilities for black students instead of allowing them into white institutions. Furthermore, Justice McLean noted that this policy did not violate either the Fourteenth Amendment or Article IV Section 2 of the Constitution as they only applied to states which denied citizens their civil rights on account of race or color without providing an equal substitute facility for those affected by such discrimination. Thus, since Missouri provided a similar education opportunity at Lincoln University specifically designed for African Americans like Gaines, there was no violation and therefore no cause for action against it under these provisions.