McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Ed.

• Citation: 87 F. Supp. 526
• Decision Date: 06 October 1948
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 4039.
• Parties: McLAURIN v. OKLAHOMA STATE REGENTS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Oklahoma

87 F. Supp. 526

McLAURIN v. OKLAHOMA STATE REGENTS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION et al.

Civ. No. 4039.

United States District Court W. D. Oklahoma.

October 6, 1948.

Amos T. Hall, Tulsa, Okl., and Thurgood Marshall, New York City, attorneys for plaintiff.

Mac Q. Williamson, Attorney General, State of Oklahoma, Fred Hansen and George T. Montgomery, Assistants to the Attorney General, attorneys for defendants.

Before MURRAH, Circuit Judge, VAUGHT, Chief Judge, and BROADDUS, District Judge.

PER CURIAM.

By this suit, we were asked to enjoin the defendants from refusing to admit the plaintiff to the University of Oklahoma, for the purpose of pursuing a postgraduate course in education leading toward a doctor's degree. It is said that although having made timely application for admission, and being morally and scholastically qualified, he has been denied admission solely because, as a member of the Negro Race, the laws of Oklahoma forbid his admission under criminal penalty. It is said that in these circumstances, refusal to admit the plaintiff to the University of Oklahoma, for the purpose of pursuing the course of study he seeks, is a deprivation of his rights to the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Findings of Fact.

I. In accordance with the stipulation, the court finds that the University of Oklahoma is an educational institution maintained by the taxpayers of the State, from funds derived from uniform taxation, and that it is the only educational institution supported by public taxation in which the plaintiff can pursue a postgraduate course leading to a doctor's degree in education.

II. That during the enrollment period for the second semester for the 1947-1948 school term, plaintiff applied for admission to the University for the purpose of taking such courses which would entitle him to a doctor's degree in education, and that at the time of his application, he possessed and still possesses all of the scholastic and moral qualifications prescribed by the University of Oklahoma for admission to the courses he seeks to pursue, and that he was denied admission to the University on February 2, 1948, solely because as a member of the Negro Race, the applicable laws of Oklahoma, 70 O.S.1941 §§ 455, 456 and 457, make it a criminal offense for any person to operate a school or college or any educational institution where persons of both white and colored races are received as pupils for instruction, or for any instructors to teach in, or any white person to attend, any such school.

Conclusions of Law.

I. This suit arises under the Constitution and laws of the United States, and seeks redress for the deprivation of civil rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The court is therefore vested with jurisdiction, regardless of diversity of citizenship or amount in controversy. Hague v. C. I. O., 307 U.S. 496, 514, 59 S.Ct. 954, 83 L.Ed. 1423; Douglas v. City of Jeannette, 319 U.S. 157, 63 S.Ct. 877, 87 L.Ed. 1324. Since a temporary injunction against the enforcement of the State laws...