This case involved a group of Black high school students who resided in the city of Clinton in Anderson County, Tennessee. These Black students weren’t allowed to attend all-white Clinton High School. So, they had to travel by bus to neighboring Knox County to attend an all-Black school. They requested that their County School Board provide them a high school and education in Clinton equivalent to that provided for white children. The Board refused, and the students filed a suit alleging they were being denied the right to an equal education.  The court saw education as a state issue, not a federal one, and claimed that the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution didn’t apply. Because Tennessee’s state constitution required Black and white students to attend separate schools, the court suggested it would violate state law for the Black students to be admitted to Clinton High School. They also argued that the state constitution required 75 students for the establishment of a new school, and there were only 30 Black pupils in Anderson County who qualified. Further, the judge agreed with the defendants’ claim that the students were not burdened by taking the free bus their county provided 19 miles to and from Knoxville each day. The court concluded that segregation was "not only a wise but also a necessary policy for the best interests of the races." [228 words]