UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE

Petitioners, three Negro students and one white student, entered a store in New Orleans, La., sat at a lunch counter reserved for white people, and requested service, which was refused. For refusing to leave when requested to do so by the manager of the store, they were convicted of violating the Louisiana Criminal Mischief Statute, which makes it a crime to refuse to leave a place of business after being ordered to do so by the person in charge of the premises. No state statute or city ordinance required racial segregation in restaurants, but both the Mayor and the Superintendent of Police had announced publicly that such "sit-in demonstrations" would not be permitted.

Held: Petitioners' convictions violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Peterson v. City of Greenville, ante, p. 373 U. S. 244. Pp. 373 U. S. 268-274.

241 La. 958, 132 So.2d 860, reversed. clubjuris

Page 373 U. S. 268