Palmer v. Thompson

Mr. Justice White,

with whom Mr. Justice Bren- • nan and Mr. Justice Marshall join, dissenting.

I agree with the majority that the central purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment is to protect Negroes from invidious discrimination. Consistent with this view, I had thought official policies forbidding or discouraging joint use of public facilities by Negroes and whites were at war with the Equal Protection Clause. Our cases make it unquestionably clear, as all of us agree, that a city or State may not énforce such a policy by maintaining officially separate facilities for the two races. It is also…