The NAACP's fight against segregated education--the first public
interest litigation campaign--culminated in the 1954
Brown
decision. While touching on the general social, political, and
economic climate in which the NAACP acted, Mark V. Tushnet
emphasizes the internal workings of the organization as revealed in
its own documents. He argues that the dedication and the political
and legal skills of staff members such as Walter White, Charles
Hamilton Houston, and Thurgood Marshall were responsible for the
ultimate success of public interest law. This edition contains a
new epilogue by the author that addresses general questions of
litigation strategy, the persistent question of whether the
Brown decision mattered, and the legacy of
Brown
through the Burger and Rehnquist courts.