Browder versus Gayle

With the Montgomery Bus Boycott in full swing, in February of 1956, 100 black citizens were arrested for boycotting without "just or legal cause". Among those arrested were Martin Luther King Jr and Rose Parks. The anti-segregation movement was eager to end the boycott with a clear victory and they saw the Browder versus Gayle case as an opportunity to do just that. The case was named after Aurelia Browder (the plaintiff whose name came first alphabetically) and W.A. Gayle, the mayor of Montgomery (Hoose, p. 82). On February 1, 1956 Claudette Colvin served as one of four plaintiffs in the case (Jet, p. 2). Attorney Fred Gray, who had represented Colvin in the days following her arrest, represented the plaintiffs in this case (Jet, p. 1). Gray argued that bus segregation violated the equal rights provision of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Colvin testified about her personal experience of being arrested for refusing to give up her seat. After the trial concluded in June of 1956 the three judges who heard the case deliberated. In a 2-1 decision the judges found that state-imposed segregation on public facilities violates the Constitution (Hoose, p. 91). The Supreme Court of the United States upheld the court's ruling in December of 1956, ending bus segregation in the United States (Abdulaleem, p. 1).

Works Cited
Hoose, Phillip. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. 1st ed. Douglas & McIntyre, 2009. Print.
 Abdulaleem, Maryam. "Before There Was Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin." The New York Amsterdam News 2009. Print.
"Claudette Colvin: An Unsung Hero in the Montgomery Bus Boycott." Jet Magazine 28 Feb. 2005. Print.