Case: State Board of Public Welfare v. Myers

60-162 (Court of Appeals) | Maryland state appellate court

Filed Date: Feb. 26, 1960

Closed Date: 1961

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Case Summary

On February 26, 1960, a thirteen-year-old African American juvenile filed a lawsuit on behalf of himself and others similarly situated against the Maryland Board of Public Welfare and the Boards of Managers of the Maryland Training School, Boys' Village, Montrose School for Girls, and Barrett School for Girls. The claim, arising under the Fourteenth Amendment, asked for declaratory relief from the reformatory schools' policy of racial segregation. The Baltimore City Circuit Court (Judge Charles E. Moylan) granted declaratory relief to the plaintiff on July 6, 1960, holding that the schools' racial segregation policies were in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and adverse to the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

The defendants appealed, arguing that a reformatory school was more analogous to a prison than a public school and, thus, the Brown decision was inapplicable. The Maryland Court of Appeals (Judge Henderson) affirmed and modified the District Court's ruling. State Board of Public Welfare v. Myers, 167 A.2d 765 (Md. 1961). The Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment bars racial segregation in state-run schools regardless of their type. However, because the defendant was ineligible for admission to two of the schools on account of his sex, he lacked standing as to the operation of these schools for girls. The decree was modified to include only the Board of Maryland Training School and the Board of Public Welfare on February 1, 1961.

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Summary Authors

Stacey Jensen (5/16/2006)