Filed Date: 1959
Closed Date: Jan. 23, 1959
Clearinghouse coding complete
Sometime prior to January 1959, an African American inmate of the California State Prison at Folsom, filed a complaint pro se in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint alleged that various racially segregated practices at the prison violated the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment and sought to enjoin their use, and alternatively sought transfer to another prison. In particular, the plaintiff complained of being required required to join an all-black line formation when going to his cellblock for daily lockup; that he was lodged in an all-black cell; that he was forced to join an all-black line when going to the dining hall; that he was required to eat in an all-black section of the dining hall; and that this section of the dining hall would be dangerous in the event of fire given its location furthest from exits.
On January 23, 1959, the District Court (Judge Sherrill Halbert) rejected the plaintiff's complaint. Nichols v. McGee, 169 F.Supp. 721 (N.D. Cal. 1959). The court held that the facts complained of did not show a sufficiently grave and substantial interference with any right of the plaintiff that would reache such constitutional magnitude as would justify the intervention of federal District Court. The court noted that the rationale of Brown v. Board of Education rejecting segregated schools would not be extended to state penal institutions. The plaintiff, still pro se, appealed directly to the Supreme Court.
On October 12, 1959, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. Nichols v. McGee, 361 U.S. 6 (1959).
The docket for this case is unavailable so we have no further information about this case.
Summary Authors
Chris Sullivan (9/5/2005)
Halbert, Sherrill (California)
Maier, Doris (California)
Mosk, Stanley (California)
Halbert, Sherrill (California)
Last updated March 24, 2024, 3:10 a.m.
Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.State / Territory: California
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: 1959
Closing Date: Jan. 23, 1959
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Inmate in state prison alleging discrimination against him by reason of his race by requiring him to join an exclusively black line formation when proceeding to his assigned cell block for daily lineup, and other acts that kept him with other blacks
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: Yes
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
California Department of Corrections (Folsom), State
Case Details
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Order Duration: 1959 - 1959
Issues
General:
Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:
Discrimination-basis:
Affected Sex or Gender:
Type of Facility: