Michigan Supreme Court
Territorial Times to the 1950s:
Decisions Affecting African
Americans
Territorial Cases
Judge Woodward:1807
• Denison v Tucker: slaves returned to Tucker
who was deemed to be lawful master of the
Denisons
• In Matter of Richard Pattinson: Woodward
decided not to return fugitive slaves
• Two cases demonstrate conflict between
what was viewed as the immorality of
slavery and an obligation to and
interpretation of the laws
Voting
• Gordon v Farrar: Supreme Court found that
voting was exclusive to white males, 1844
• People v Dean: Justices Campbell, Cooley
and Christiancy defined white as “less than
¼ African blood”
• Hedgeman v Board of Registration: Court
held that free blacks were not citizens
Education
• Workman v Detroit Board of Education,
•
•
•
•
1869
“Separate but Equal” Doctrine dismissed
Public school admission based on race ruled
illegal
1871: William W. Ferguson first African
American admitted to Detroit Public School
system
Legal victory without practical application,
schools continued to be segregated
Public Accommodations
• Day v Owen, 1858
• Ferguson v Gies, 1890
• Bolden v Grand Rapids Operating Corp,
1927
Day v Owen, 1858
• Denied passage on a
steamer from Detroit
to Toledo
• Sued for damages
• Court ruled that
ultimately the
defendant had the
right to decide who
would ride on his
steamer
Ferguson v Gies, 1890
• Came after Civil Rights
Justice Morse
legislation, Act 130
• Counteracted ideology of
Day v Owen
• “In Michigan, there must
be absolute, unconditional
equality of White and
Colored before the Law”Justice Morse
• Prominent African
American representation
Bolden v Grand Rapids
Operating Corp, 1927
• Gave African Americans right to sue for
damages if discriminated against
• Michigan’s Civil Rights Statute was found
to be constitutional exercise of the state’s
police powers
William W. Ferguson
• Prominent Detroit
business owner of a
printing company
• Became a lawyer in
1897
• First African
American elected to
Michigan Legislature
D. Augustus Straker
• African-American
lawyer from the
Bahamas, represented
Ferguson
• One of the first
minorities to argue
before the Michigan
Supreme Court
• Included in 1900 time
capsule that was
recently opened
Restrictive Covenants
• Most commonly, refusing housing based on
racial restrictions
• Parmalee v Morris,1922: upheld racially
restrictive covenants
• Sipes v McGhee, 1947: Led to a U.S.
Supreme Court ruling that states could not
enforce racially restrictive covenants
Ramifications
• The Michigan
Supreme Court made • The cases chosen
represent medley of
powerful decisions,
the Court’s work
promoting change or
maintaining the
• Historically, the
status quo, and
Court reflected the
whether positive or
conservative beliefs
negative the Court
of Midwestern
has an undeniable
Michigan society
impact on our lives.