Mendez v. Westminster and the Anderson Bill

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds that the segregation of Mexican-American students and white students in separate schools in California is unconstitutional. In their decision in Mendez v. Westminster, the court rules that, “a paramount requisite in American system of public education is social equality. It must be open to all children by unified school association regardless of lineage.” This ruling inspires the passage of the Anderson Bill in 1947, which ends all segregation in California schools. Mendez v. Westminster provides an important precedent for the Brown v. Board decision.