Michigan Supreme Court

Territorial Times to the 1950s: Decisions Affecting African

Americans

Territorial Cases

Judge Woodward:1807

• Denison v Tucker: slaves returned to Tucker who was deemed to be lawful master of the Denisons

• In Matter of Richard Pattinson: Woodward decided not to return fugitive slaves

• Two cases demonstrate conflict between what was viewed as the immorality of slavery and an obligation to and interpretation of the laws

Voting • Gordon v Farrar: Supreme Court found that

voting was exclusive to white males, 1844• People v Dean: Justices Campbell, Cooley

and Christiancy defined white as “less than ¼ African blood”

• Hedgeman v Board of Registration: Court held that free blacks were not citizens

Education• Workman v Detroit Board of Education,

1869• “Separate but Equal” Doctrine dismissed• Public school admission based on race ruled

illegal• 1871: William W. Ferguson first African

American admitted to Detroit Public School system

• Legal victory without practical application, schools continued to be segregated

Public Accommodations

• Day v Owen, 1858

• Ferguson v Gies, 1890

• Bolden v Grand Rapids Operating Corp, 1927

Day v Owen, 1858

• Denied passage on a steamer from Detroit to Toledo

• Sued for damages• Court ruled that

ultimately the defendant had the right to decide who would ride on his steamer

Ferguson v Gies, 1890• Came after Civil Rights

legislation, Act 130

• Counteracted ideology of Day v Owen

• “In Michigan, there must be absolute, unconditional equality of White and Colored before the Law”-Justice Morse

• Prominent African American representationJustice Morse

Bolden v Grand Rapids Operating Corp, 1927

• Gave African Americans right to sue for damages if discriminated against

• Michigan’s Civil Rights Statute was found to be constitutional exercise of the state’s police powers

William W. Ferguson

• Prominent Detroit business owner of a printing company

• Became a lawyer in 1897

• First African American elected to Michigan Legislature

D. Augustus Straker• African-American

lawyer from the Bahamas, represented Ferguson

• One of the first minorities to argue before the Michigan Supreme Court

• Included in 1900 time capsule that was recently opened

Restrictive Covenants

• Most commonly, refusing housing based on racial restrictions

• Parmalee v Morris,1922: upheld racially restrictive covenants

• Sipes v McGhee, 1947: Led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states could not enforce racially restrictive covenants

Ramifications• The Michigan

Supreme Court made powerful decisions, promoting change or maintaining the status quo, and whether positive or negative the Court has an undeniable impact on our lives.

• The cases chosen represent medley of the Court’s work

• Historically, the Court reflected the conservative beliefs of Midwestern Michigan society