Abstract
Brown v. Board of Education marked a turning point for both civil rights and judicial activism. During the half century since Brown, social activists of all kinds have sought policy changes from the courts rather than legislatures. That trend has produced social benefits but, over time, it has also shifted political power to elites. This essay explores the possibility of retaining Brown's promise for racial equality while reinvigorating an electoral politics that would better represent many of the people Brown intended to benefit.
Disciplines
Civil Rights and Discrimination | Law and Politics | Law and Society | Legal Remedies | Public Law and Legal Theory | Social Welfare Law
Date of this Version
March 2005
Recommended Citation
Deborah Jones Merritt, "Brown’s Legacy: The Promises and Pitfalls of Judicial Relief" (March 2005). The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Working Paper Series. Working Paper 10.
https://law.bepress.com/osulwps/art10
Included in
Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Law and Society Commons, Legal Remedies Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons, Social Welfare Law Commons
Comments
Forthcoming, Negro Educational Review, vol. 56, no. 1 (January 2005).