Berea College Brief

Berea College Brief

Berea College vs. State of Kentucky, 219 US (1908)

Facts
Berea College was founded as an inter-racial school on the South after the Civil War. The state of Kentucky passed a law to shut down the school giving the students the option to segregate the student body or to close down. The school defies the law and continues to operate as is.

Procedural History
Madison county grand jury charges the school with violating the law. Madison County convicts Berea College and Berea College appeals to state circuit court, which affirms the conviction. Berea College appeals to the Supreme Court.

Case of Action
  * The 14th Amendment: The 14th Amendment states that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are made citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside, and the States are forbidden from making or enforcing any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, or shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or deny to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Questions Presented
  * Does the Kentucky state law requiring Berea College to segregate its students violate the 14th Amendment?
Parties Argument
  A. Berea College
  * The act of prohibiting white and black people from attending the same school in 1904 in unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.  
  B. State of Kentucky
  * The act does not violate the 14th amendment because separate but equal education is permitted as long as black students are educated more than 25 miles away
  * State governments have the power to regulate state chartered corporations, like schools, in any manner they see fit.
Holding
No, the Kentucky state law does not violate 14th Amendment.

Reasoning
The Supreme Court ruled that state governments have the power to regulate state chartered corporations. Being that schools are...