Which court case in 1954 ruled that 'separate but equal' did not exist in education and ordered integration with 'all deliberate speed'?

• A. Gideon v. Wainwright
• B. Brown v. Board of Education
• C. Miranda v. Arizona
• D. Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer: (B)

The central idea being tested is that segregation in schools cannot be equal and must be dismantled. In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), the Supreme Court ruled that public school segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause because separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. This overturned the earlier Plessy v. Ferguson standard that “separate but equal” could be legal in education. While the 1954 decision established the principle, the Court later addressed timing in Brown II (1955), ordering desegregation with “all deliberate speed.” The other cases—Gideon v. Wainwright and Miranda v. Arizona—deal with criminal rights, not schooling, making Brown v. Board of Education the correct answer.