all deliberate speed
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 349 U.S. 294 - Brown v. Board of Education · 1955Most cited · 3,695 citing opinions
the courts will require that the defendants make a prompt and reasonable start toward full compliance with our May 17, 1954, ruling. Once such a start has been made, the courts may find that additional time is necessary to carry out the ruling in an effective manner. The burden rests upon the defendants to establish that such time is necessary in the public interest and is consistent with good faith compliance at the earliest practicable date.
How often courts cite the cases defining “all deliberate speed”
Court decisions citing the 2 opinions that defined “all deliberate speed” — 4,251 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 2 definitions, chronological · 1955–1963
Brown never contemplated that the concept of 'deliberate speed' would countenance indefinite delay in elimination of racial barriers in schools, let alone other public facilities not involving the same physical problems or comparable conditions.