Robinson v. Florida facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Robinson v. Florida |
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| Argued October 15, 1963 Decided June 22, 1964 |
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| Full case name | James Russell Robinson et al., v. Florida |
| Citations | 378 U.S. 153 (more)
84 S. Ct. 1693; 12 L. Ed. 2d 771; 1964 U.S. LEXIS 821
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| Prior history | Conviction affirmed, 144 So.2d 811 (Fla. 1962); probable jurisdiction noted, 378 U.S. 153 (1963). |
| Subsequent history | 167 So.2d 307 (Fla. 1964), vacated prior decision and remand to trial court. |
| Holding | |
| The state convictions violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as the state, through regulations requiring separate facilities for each race in a restaurant, had become involved in bringing about segregation. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Black, joined by Warren, Brennan, White, Clark, Stewart, Goldberg |
| Concurrence | Douglas |
| Concurrence | Harlan |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. Amend. XIV | |
Robinson v. Florida was an important case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1964. It was about people who were not served at a restaurant because of their race. The Court decided that a rule in Florida, which said restaurants had to have separate bathrooms for different races, helped cause racial segregation. This rule went against the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
What Happened in This Case?
This case started when eighteen people, both white and African American, went to a restaurant in a department store in Miami, Florida. The restaurant had a rule that it would not serve African American customers.
The restaurant manager asked the group to leave. When they refused to go, they were arrested. They were charged under a state law that allowed restaurants to remove anyone they thought was "detrimental" to serve.
At their trial, the group argued that being arrested for simply asking for service because of their race was unfair. They said it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This part of the Constitution says that states must treat all people equally under the law.
The trial court put them on probation instead of sending them to jail. However, the Florida Supreme Court later said that the law used to arrest them was fair and did not violate equal protection. So, the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court's Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court had to decide if the arrests were legal. Justice Black wrote the main opinion for the Court. The Court did not directly decide if the Fourteenth Amendment stopped states from arresting people who refused to leave a restaurant because of their race.
Instead, the Court looked back at a similar case called Peterson v. Greenville from 1963. In that case, the Court had ruled that a state law directly telling restaurants not to serve black and white people in the same room was unconstitutional. This was because the state was directly involved in segregation.
Florida had a rule that required any restaurant to have separate toilet and bathroom facilities for each race or gender it served or employed. The Supreme Court said that even though this Florida rule didn't directly say "don't serve both races," it still made it harder for restaurants to serve both white and black customers.
The Court decided that this Florida rule meant the state was involved in creating segregation. Because the state was involved, it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, just like in the Peterson case.
Therefore, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions of the people who were arrested in Miami. Justice Douglas and Justice Harlan also agreed with the Court's decision, though for slightly different reasons.
See also
- Civil Rights Movement
- List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 378
