Charles Hamilton Houston: Petition in Missouri ex rel Gaines v. Canada

Glossary

• Circuit Court a federal court of appeals, so named because in frontier days, judges would “ride the circuit,” or move from town to town, administering judgments
• Curators administrators
• denied mandamus without opinion refused, without explanation, to issue a court order requiring another court to perform a particular action
• equal protection clause a statement, in Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, granting equal protection under the law to all citizens
• ex rel abbreviation for the Latin ex relatione (“on behalf of”), referring to a situation in which a governmental entity brings a lawsuit on behalf of a party deemed to be affected by the issue under question
• Fourteenth Amendment constitutional amendment, ratified in 1868, extending rights of citizenship and equal protection under the law to all Americans
• incident to part of
• instant present
• Lincoln University Act of 1921 act of the Missouri legislature granting university status to a historically black college
• Pearson v. Murray a 1936 lawsuit whereby the University of Maryland appealed the ruling in Murray v. Pearson the preceding year
• petitioner the person bringing the case
• precedent a decision by a court that sets a standard for future judgments
• Registrar a college official responsible for admission, enrollment, and registration of students
• Writ court order