1. Read the summary of a Supreme Court case and then respond to parts A, B, and C.

In 1979, Joe Hogan, a registered nurse who lived in Mississippi, applied to attend the Mississippi University for Women to seek a degree in his field; Hogan lived hundreds of miles from other universities that offered similar programs. The university refused his application on the basis of his gender. He sued the university, claiming that his constitutional rights were violated.

The Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 in favor of Hogan. In her majority opinion, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stated that the university did not offer a compelling reason for gender discrimination. Because nursing was dominated by women at the time, an all-female college program in nursing was unjustified, she argued; women did not face the same institutionalized barriers in nursing as they did in other professions.

1. Describe which part of the U.S. Constitution was central to both this case,Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan(1982), and the earlier case ofBrown v. Board of Education(1954).
2. Describe a major difference in the historical circumstances leading up to each case. What is the significance of this difference? (Avoid focusing on obvious differences, such as the fact that one case focused on gender and the other focused on race.)
3. Give your opinion, based on your understanding of the Constitution, history, or the details of each case, on why theBrowndecision was unanimous and why theMississippicase was almost evenly split.