Evans v. Newton

Petitioner

Evans, et al.

Respondent

Newton, et al.

Petitioner's Claim

That a Macon, Georgia park that had been left to the city on the condition that it be open to white people be desegregated, even though the park had recently reverted to private control.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Jack Greenberg

Chief Lawyers for Respondent

C. Baxter Jones and Frank C. Jones

Justices for the Court

William J. Brennan, Jr., Tom C. Clark, William O. Douglas (writing for the Court), Abe Fortas, Earl Warren, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

Hugo Lafayette Black, John Marshall Harlan II, Potter Stewart

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

17 January 1966

Decision

Upheld the petitioners' claim, reversing the decisions of two lower courts and ruling that, due to its history as a public facility, and to the public nature of parks in general, the park must be operated on a desegregated basis.

Related Cases

• Pennsylvania v. Board of Directors of the City Trusts of Philadelphia, 357 U.S. 570 (1958).
• Evans v. Abney, 396 U.S. 435 (1970).
• Palmer v. Thompson, 403 U.S. 217 (1971).

Sources

Bradley, David and Shelley Fisher Fishkin, eds. The Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America. Armonk, NY: Sharpe, 1998.

Further Readings

• Biskupic, Joan, and Elder Witt, eds. Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court, 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1990.
• Hall, Kermit L., ed. The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States, New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.