Revolution by Law

Brian K. Landsberg is professor of law emeritus at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

Preface Introduction: Tuskegee, Alabama, September 9, 1963 1. The Ratchet Principle:Truman Sets Federal Civil Rights Policy for His Successors in Office 2. Macon County and Alabama's Racial Caste System 3. The School Desegregation Case Begins 4. New Year, New Schools, New Law 5. The Case Goes Statewide 6. Aftermath: Response to the Statewide Decree 7. "Watch What We Do" Conclusion Notes Bibliographic Essay Index

Landsberg skillfully narrates the minutia of evolutionary change within the broader milieu of national politics, and he provides a major service by illuminating change during that era.---Journal of American History "Landsberg gives us a fascinating blow-by-blow account of one of the nation's key school desegregation cases--Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, the case that ended de jure school segregation in Alabama. Expertly marshalling the primary sources, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in the nitty-gritty of school desegregation, the Justice Department and its civil rights activities, or southern civil rights history."--Margo Schlanger, Wade H. and Dores M. McCree Collegiate Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School "In Revolution by Law, Brian K. Landsberg offers a comprehensive look at Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, a pivotal case in the fight to implement the Brown decision in the Deep South. Landsberg's careful analysis reminds us of the significant role played by the federal courts and the US Department of Justice during the 1960s in dismantling southern racial apartheid."--Charles Bolton, professor of history, University of North Carolina at Greensboro "Revolution by Law represents an important addition to the historiography of school desegregation, offering an insider's account of the federal government's efforts to bring about school desegregation in Alabama and the Deep South. In addition to presenting a well-researched and well-written account of Lee v. Macon County Board of Education and its impact on the implementation of Brown v. Board of Education, Revolution by Law shows how school desegregation law affected other fields of jurisprudence and how the legal strategies employed in Lee may serve as a model for case law in the twenty-first century. It is a must-read for those interested in school desegregation and civil rights history."--Brian J. Daugherity, author of Keep On Keeping On: The NAACP and the Implementation of Brown v. Board of Education in Virginia, and coeditor of With All Deliberate Speed: Implementing Brown v. Board of Education "The Lee v. Macon County Board of Education school desegregation case has long deserved a book-length treatment, and Brian Landsberg gives us that as both dispassionate scholar and historical actor. As a young attorney in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, he litigated the case that became the model for statewide relief throughout the South. In this book, he demonstrates the ability of federal courts to effect systemic change, reminding us that, even though Brown and subsequent litigation did not bring about universal equal educational opportunity, what the plaintiffs and attorneys in those cases were able to achieve was nonetheless revolutionary."--Joseph Bagley, assistant professor, Perimeter College, Georgia State University