3.7 Chief Justice Hughes Delivered the Opinion of the Court for Gaines vs. Canada Case

Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes announced the 6-2 decision on Gaines v Canada on December 12, 1938. Writing for the majority, Hughes held that when the state provides legal training, it must provide it to every qualified person; it cannot send them to other states. Key to the conclusion was that there was no provision for legal education of blacks in Missouri, which is where Missouri law guaranteeing equal protection applies. To the court, sending Gaines to another state would have been irrelevant.

1.2 News Article About US Supreme Court Justices Rule in Favor of Lloyd Gaines by 6 to 2 Vote in The Call Newspaper

Following the decision, northern newspapers hailed it as “the Supreme Court speaking out in defense of the quality of human rights.” The Kansas City Call, one of the leading black newspapers in Missouri, declared, “If keeping the races separate is so important to Missourians that coeducation is unthinkable then let them count the cost!” The NAACP’s long-term plan for casting financial burden upon the Jim Crow states was now a reality.