Berea College v. Kentucky

United States Supreme Court

211 U.S. 45 (1908)

Constitutional Law Business Associations

Relevant factsFree

Kentucky (plaintiff) enacted a law barring people, corporations, and associations from operating racially integrated colleges; Berea College (defendant), a private corporation, was convicted and fined for violating the law by admitting both Black and white students. The trial court upheld the state's authority over corporate-operated schools in full, and Berea appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

IssueFree

Whether a state may constitutionally prohibit a private corporation it has chartered from operating a racially integrated school.

Holding & reasoning

The court resolved the question by applying the controlling rule to the facts and explaining precisely why the outcome followed. Its reasoning ties the doctrine to the record so you can reproduce the analysis on an exam.

Procedural history, concurrence & dissent

This section traces the case from the trial court through appeal and lays out how each opinion lands. Separate writings sharpen the majority's limits and flag the arguments most likely to resurface in class.

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