th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States requires that states treat all citizens alike, regardless of race. (4) Although precedent was against him, Marshall persuaded the court to unanimously declare segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Not only did this case win the fact that segregation is unconstitutional, but it made the opinion of the Supreme Court involving the “equal protection clause” obvious to the rest of society. In 1961 Thurgood Marshall was nominated to United States Court of Appeals. “From 1961 to 1965, he wrote 112 opinions on that court, none of which were overturned on appeal. In fact, several of his dissenting opinions were eventually adopted as majority opinions by the Supreme Court.” (1) In 1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Marshall to be the first African American to be a justice of the supreme court. Now after changing policy from the outside for over twenty years Marshall was going to making the decisions on the inside. There was no doubt that civil rights would get a fair hearing ever again. Thurgood Marshall was a giant in the crusade for civil rights and equal opportunity in the whole history of the world. “Although he can properly be called the architect of American race relations in the twentieth century, on the Court he was also a vigorous advocate for protection under the law for women, children prisoners, and the homeless.” (1) Being the epitome of an American social worker, Marshall has opened doors for African Americans as well as paved the way for social activism on the inside of the United States Government. The impact he has made on life in America will carry his legacy forever. ...
