Everything Everywhere Daily · Monday, September 28, 2026
Following the boycott's success, organizers filed Browder v. Gayle, a federal lawsuit challenging Montgomery's bus segregation under the 14th Amendment. Led by Fred Gray, the suit argued that segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause, directly confronting the precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson. A three-judge panel ruled segregated transit unconstitutional on June 5th, 1956, a decision summarily affirmed by the US Supreme Court that November.
“Led by counsel and Montgomery local Fred Gray, the boycott organizers bypassed local courts, which were certain to rule against them, and filed Browder versus Gayle, a federal lawsuit challenging Montgomery's bus segregation under the 14th Amendment.”
“The case addressed the humiliation bus passengers Rulia Browder, Claudette Colvin, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith experienced under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.”
“Gray argued that Plessy had been decisively overturned in principle by the landmark 1954 Brown versus Board of Education decision.”
“On June 5th, 1956, a federal three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that segregated transit was unconstitutional, a decision the US Supreme Court affirmed that November.”