BAD BEHAVIOR MAKES BIG LAW: SOUTHERN MALFEASANCE AND THE EXPANSION OF FEDERAL JUDICIAL POWER, 1954-1968

The story of the Warren Court's impact on the US South is of course far larger and more wide-ranging than just the direct legacy of Brown v. Board of Education. The story of the Warren Court and the South begins with the South's long-troubled relationship to the rule of law, reaching back to the antebellum era before the Civil War, Emancipation, and the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. On the occasion of Brown's tenth anniversary in 1964, Anthony Lewis of the New York Times wrote that the refusal of state executives, policemen and judges to enforce the Constitution has led the Federal courts to pull away from their tradition of deference to state tribunals. The Warren Court's reach was lengthier and broader than many historians appreciate, and had it not been for white southern bad behavior and Black courage, the Warren Court never would have reached as far and as firmly as it did.