What did the case of State of Missouri ex. Rel. Gaines v. Canada involve?

State of Missouri ex. Rel. Gaines v. Canada was a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1938. The case was originally brought to the Supreme Court by Lloyd Gaines, a young black man who had applied to the University of Missouri's law school, but was denied admission based on the state's policy of segregated law schools. Instead of being admitted to the University of Missouri’s law school—whites only—Gaines was offered admission to a newly formed, separate law school for African Americans in an out-of-state location. Gaines opposed this separate law school, arguing that it was an unequal substitute for education.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gaines, requiring Missouri to provide Gaines with the same educational opportunity offered to white students by admitting him to the state university's white-only law school. The ruling was landmark in that it was one of the first to recognize the fundamental right of racial minorities to equal access to college education. The ruling has since been cited multiple times, leading to the desegregation of many other educational institutions.

It forced states to provide equal facilities to blacks for legal education within their borders.