Question

The fourteenth amendment says, "no state shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."2 how did the supreme court expand this protection in the 1950s?

Answer 1

It applied the protection of the federal government as well as to the states.

Answer 2

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is one of the post-Civil War amendments, and includes, among others, the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. It was proposed on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868.

The amendment provides a broad definition of national citizenship, which overrides the decision of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), who had excluded slaves and their descendants, from possessing constitutional rights. It requires states to provide equal protection before the law to all persons (not just citizens) within their jurisdictions. The importance of the Fourteenth Amendment was exemplified in the 1950s when it was interpreted to prohibit racial segregation in public schools in the case Brown v. Board of Education.