Page 15 - Delaware Lawyer - Issue 1 - 2024

proceed “with all deliberate speed.”11 The high court remanded Gebhart back to Delaware to reconsider the remedy in light of Brown II.
This led to Steiner v. Simmons, which is easily one of the worst Del- aware decisions ever.12 There, the Court of Chancery barred a board of education from denying students the right to attend high school based on the color of their skin. The Dela- ware Supreme Court reversed that decision, finding instead that deseg- regation must be achieved cautiously and that the decision of the Court of Chancery was not a “cautious ap- proach to a problem of great delicacy and difficulty.”13 In doing so, the Delaware Supreme Court permitted, in the name of “caution,” continued discrimination against minority stu- dents in Delaware.
Thus, Delaware’s shining moment
in the civil rights movement would prove brief. Delaware would lose its moral high ground in the years after Brown II, slumping into the pack of indecorous institutions that inten- tionally dragged their feet to imple- ment the edict of Brown I.
Still, Delaware should be proud to have stood with Brown I on the right side of history. And the Court of Chancery can be proud too. Chan- cellor Seitz’s findings informed the United States Supreme Court’s deci- sion in Brown I. It was a masterclass in judicial integrity, legal analysis and legal writing. Modern society contin- ues to benefit from the Chancellor’s timeless insights.
My colleagues and I benefit in an additional way — we are buoyed by the courage of our predecessor’s con- victions. Gebhart and Brown serve as sobering reminders that universal
truths are not always universally held and that the evolution toward a more virtuous society is not inevitable. They teach us that societal change depends on the moral imperative of brave individuals, including brave judges.
NOTES
1. Brown v. Board of Educ. of Topeka, Kan., 347 U.S. 483 (1954) (“Brown I”).
2. 91 A.2d 137 (Del. 1952), affirming 87 A.2d 862 (Del. Ch. 1952).
3. 87 A.2d 862 (Del. Ch. 1952). 4. 16 U.S. 537 (1896).
5. 87 A.2d at 864.
6. 87 A.2d at 865.
7. 87 A.2d at 865.
8. 87 A.2d at 865.
9. Brown I, 347 U.S. at 495.
10. Brown v. Board of Educ. Of Topeka, Kan., 349 U.S. 294 (1955) (“Brown II”).
11. Id. at 301.
12. 111 A.2d 574 (Del. 1955), rev’g 108 A.2d 173 (Del. Ch. 1954).
13. 111 A.2d at 583.
ISSUE 1 2024 DELAWARE LAWYER 13