Summary Of The Movie 'Separate But Equal'

Both the movie “Separate but Equal”, and the article “ How the Supreme Court Arrives at Decisions” by William J. Brennan, Jr., shows how the Supreme Court deals with issues, and what it takes for them to come up with a decision. It is a very complicated process because they have to be able to interpret the text of thee Constitution and come up with a ruling which so often can change a current law and affect every citizen in the United States. If they do not take the time need then it can be catastrophic for the country. In “Separate but Equal” all the justices had different views on the issue concerning racial segregation in public schools. Some of these views had to do with what state the Justices came from and what those particular states believed in and represented, and some felt that way on a personal level. Decisions like that should not be made based on personal preference or because of where you were born and raised. Because of these multiple opposing opinions, it was very difficult for the Supreme Court to come to a ruling on this case. In the article, Brennan says that Justices represent the citizens who elected them their representative, and they make their decisions based on the law. One contrast between Brennan’s
article and “Separate but Equal” is the Conference for that days case agenda. In the article, Brennan explains how the Justices gather together each with a copy of the agenda of the cases. The Chief Justice is the first to talk. He will explain each of the cases for that day, and then give all the other Justices an opportunity to express their opinions on each case. If a case gets four out of nine votes for review, it is transferred to the oral argument list. However, in the movie “Separate but Equal”, this step is skipped. The petition just goes straight to court for the hearing. The allowed time limit is also another difference between the article and the movie. In the article, Brennan explains that each party is allowed one hour, and sometimes it is only a half hour. So they do give a specific time limit where in “Separate but Equal” the parties were only allowed five minutes to argue their case and then the Justices left to make a decision and never gave a time limit on their decision making. In the article, Brennan states that after an argument is presented, the Justices follow a schedule of two weeks for arguments and another two weeks of recess for opinion writing and studying petitions. The article also mentions a process know as assigning an opinion. The task of writing an opinion is one that takes a very long time and involves a great deal of research. It is necessary that the Supreme Court receives information on history, economics, social science, and various other sciences. Then, when a document has been written, it is printed in a print shop and distributed to each Justice. The movie does an excellent job of portraying this process when Chief Justice Williams is reading a journal about Abraham Lincoln, and discovers a crucial point that will help turn over the other Justices to his opinions. He then types up his report and makes nine copies, one for each Justice. A very important step in this process is missing in the movie that was mentioned in this article, which is dissent.
Brennan states that one of the proposed majority decisions is changed into a dissent before the final ruling is announced, then the Justices will figure out the final form of the opinion. In “Separate but Equal”, a dissent never existed, the Supreme Court just skips it and goes right to writing the final form. This article shows how the Supreme Courts decisions can cause major issues and controversies among the country. “Separate but Equal” proved to be a great example of all the controversies and problems that can result from decisions made by the Supreme Court by dealing with the issue of Segregation in public
schools. Although “Separate but Equal” did not get every aspect of the process involved in getting a ruling for a case, it did do an excellent job. It showed the majority of the necessary processes and agendas for a Supreme Court case. Brennan was able to describe the difficult job of a Supreme Court Justice very well, as did “ Separate but Equal”. All of the points of this procedure that were highlighted in the movie were mostly the mst important decisions and aspects.