n/cases/federal/us/339/629/#tab-opinion-1939889 J.S. Supreme Court Search Q Log er Research the Law Law Schools Laws & Regs Newsletters Marketing Solutions > U.S. Supreme Court , Opinions by Volume > Volume 339 , Sweatt v. Painter Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950) Argued: Argued: Decided: Decided: April 4, 1950 April 4, 1950 June 5, 1950 June 5, 1950 Syllabus U.S. Supreme Court Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950) Sweatt v. Painter No. 44 Argued April 4, 1950 Decided June 5 1050 Q Search 6: " L O EC BLUO ooo PriSC Delete F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 % Backspace 5 6 8 9 O O P G H K EnSupreme Court Search Log In Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950) U.S. Supreme Court Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950) Sweatt v. Painter No. 44 Argued April 4, 1950 Decided June 5, 1950 339 U.S. 629 CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS Syllabus Petitioner was denied admission to the state supported University of Texas Law School, solely because he is a Negro and state law forbids the admission of Negroes to that Law School. He was offered, but he refused, enrollment in a separate law school newly established by the State for Negroes. The University of Texas Law School has 16 full-time and three part A professors, 850 students, a library of 65,000 volumes, a law caviout mont court facilitinc cchal: a Order of the coif affiliation many distinguished alumni Q Search Delete F11 F12 Insert F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 % & Backspace Num Lock O 6 7 8 9 P G H K Enterpreme Court Search Q Log In Sig Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950) School has 16 full-time and three part-time professors, 850 students, a library of 65,000 volumes, a law review, moot court facilities, scholarship funds, an Order of the Coif affiliation, many distinguished alumni, and much tradition and prestige. The separate law school for Negroes has five full-time professors, 23 students, a library of 16,500 volumes, a practice court, a legal aid association, and one alumnus admitted to the Texas Bar, but it excludes from its student body members of racial groups which number 85% of the population of the State and which include most of the lawyers, witnesses, jurors, judges, and other officials with whom petitioner would deal as a member of the Texas Bar. Held: The legal education offered petitioner is not substantially equal to that which he would receive if admitted to the University of Texas Law School, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that he be admitted to the University of Texas Law School. Pp. 343 U. S. 631-636. Reversed. A Texas trial court found that a newly established state law school for Negroes offered petitioner "privileges, advantages, and opportunities for the study of law substantially equivalent to those offered by the State to white students at the University of Texas," and denied mandamus to compel his admission to the University of Texas Law School. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed. 210 s.W.2d 442. The Texas Supreme Court denied writ of error. This Court granted certiorari. 338 U.S. 865. Reversed, p. 339 U. S. 636. Page 339 U. S. 631 Q Search COLDO Delete - /11 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 Insert PrISc F5 F6 % & Backspace Num Lock 6 8 9 O T P Home 4 G H K Enter B N M ShiftSupreme Court Search Log In Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950) Page 339 U. S. 631 MR. CHIEF JUSTICE VINSON delivered the opinion of the Court. This case and Mclaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, post, p. 339 U. S. 637, present different aspects of this general question: to what extent does the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment limit the power of a state to distinguish between students of different races in professional and graduate education in a state university? Broader issues have been urged for our consideration, but we adhere to the principle of deciding constitutional questions only in the context of the particular case before the Court. We have frequently reiterated that this Court will decide constitutional questions only when necessary to the disposition of the case at hand, and that such decisions will be drawn as narrowly as possible. Rescue Army v. Municipal Court, 331 U. S. 549 (1947), and cases cited therein. Because of this traditional reluctance to extend constitutional interpretations to situations or facts which are not before the Court, much of the excellent research and detailed argument presented in these cases is unnecessary to their disposition. In the instant case, petitioner filed an application for admission to the University of Texas Law School for the February, 1946, term. His application was rejected solely because he is a Negro. [Footnote 1] Petitioner thereupon brought this suit for mandamus against the appropriate school officials, respondents here, to compel his admission. At that time, there was no law school in Texas which admitted Negroes. The state trial court recognized that A In of the State in denying petitioner the opportunity to gain Q Search LO Delete F10 F11 F12 Insert PHISC F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 & Backspace Lock 5 6 8 9 O O P H Enter G K N M