The case of Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka, which took place in 1954, was a major breakthrough for the Civil Rights Movement, as it paved the way for an ending to inequality and segragation, especially in public schools and it influenced many legal cases thereafter. Among the many important things achieved through this ruling was the overturn of several other court rulings, especially those made in Plessy vs Ferguson (1986), which allowed states to establish separate schools for black and white children and Mendez vs Westminster, which allowed for the setting of separate facilities. The case was decided finally by the Supreme Court in a unanimous vote and after it it was settled that the installation of separate public schools, and segregation of children regarding their race in school, was a direct violation of the terms set by the Equal Protection Clause in the Fourtheenth Amendment.
