Cooper v. Aaron
**Cooper v. Aaron Overview**
Cooper v. Aaron is a landmark Supreme Court case that arose in the context of the desegregation efforts following the 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The case stemmed from the Little Rock, Arkansas school crisis of 1957, when Governor Orville Faubus defied federal orders to integrate Central High School, leading to significant conflict over state versus federal authority. In a decisive ruling, the Supreme Court stated that states must adhere to its decisions, reinforcing the principle of judicial supremacy. The Court rejected attempts by local officials to postpone desegregation, arguing that such delays violated the constitutional rights of African American students. This case underscored the federal government's commitment to enforcing civil rights, as President Eisenhower ordered federal troops to ensure compliance with the Court's directives. The ruling has since been pivotal in understanding the relationship between state laws and federal constitutional mandates, especially in the realm of civil rights. Cooper v. Aaron serves as a critical precedent affirming the role of the judiciary in safeguarding constitutional rights against state resistance.
Cooper v. Aaron
Date: September 12, 1958
Citation: 358 U.S. 1
Issues: Authority of the Supreme Court; desegregation
Significance: The Supreme Court held that fear of violence did not provide justification for postponing school desegregation, and it also affirmed that its constitutional interpretations were legally binding on governors and state legislators.
In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation of the public schools violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The next year, in Brown II, the Court ordered desegregation to proceed “with all deliberate speed.” The Little Rock crisis of 1957-1958 occurred after a federal district judge approved a desegregation plan that scheduled nine African American students to enter Little Rock’s Central High School in September, 1957. When classes began, Arkansas Governor Orville Faubus and the state legislature acted on the premise that they had no legal obligation to enforce the Brown decision. Confronted with an open defiance to federal authority, President Dwight D. Eisenhower dispatched federal troops to restore order and to enforce the desegregation order.
With tensions in Little Rock continuing in 1958, the school board asked the district judge to withdraw the African American students from the school and to postpone desegregation until September, 1960. The judge accepted the proposal. In expedited proceedings, the Supreme Court reversed the judge’s ruling. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., prepared a draft of an opinion, which was then reworked and signed by all nine justices. The joint opinion held that postponement was unacceptable because it would violate the constitutional rights of the African American students. In addition, the Court declared that “the federal judiciary is supreme in the exposition of the law of the Constitution,” meaning that state governments must recognize the Brown holding as “the supreme law of the land.” Never before had the Court expressed the doctrine of judicial supremacy in such strong terms.
Although President Eisenhower personally disagreed with the Brown decision, he made it manifestly clear that he would use his executive powers to enforce the decrees and interpretations of the Court. Confident of presidential enforcement, the justices were encouraged to take a firm stand in the Cooper ruling. It was not until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that Congress provided statutory support for the desegregation effort.