Our patchwork approach to determining what the U.S. Constitution really means

One of the most important United States Supreme Court decisions in American history was also one of the most controversial.
The late Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote in his 1977 memoirs that the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision “was of tremendous importance, and made a great impact on the life of the nation.” He wrote that the decision declared the principle of “equal educational opportunities for all races,” and the court did it “without benefit of legislat