Week in Insights: A Pivotal Week in History for Law and Tax Pros

This week in history was a decisive one for legal and tax practitioners alike. Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld racial segregation in public schools, and Brown v. Board of Education, which overturned Plessy and held racial segregation in schools unconstitutional, were decided in 1896 and 1954, respectively. On this week in 1937, Supreme Court Justice Willis Van Devanter retired from the court. Had he stayed, President Franklin D. Roosevelt would’ve added more justices beyond the court’s nine, and much of the second half of the 20th century in legal and tax jurisprudence would’ve played out very differently.

Historical ...