The Doctrine of Interposition: Its History and Application

  • Date: 1958
  • Creator: Virginia Senate
  • Archive: Senate Document No. 21, 1958 Session, House and Senate Documents, 1958, Commonwealth of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia

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Description

First passed in the 1956 Extra Session, the Interposition Resolution set forth the Virginia legislature's direct response to the Brown v. Board of Education decision. It's rationale developed largely from the editorials written in 1955-1956 by James J. Kilpatrck, the editor of the Richmond News Leader. Kilpatrick resurrected the interposition doctrine from the writings of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and tried to an argument for resistance to the federal courts that drew on constitutional and historical sources. This report on the Interposition Doctrine in 1957 came from the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice. The Committee detailed a constitutional history for interposition and assembled a range of statistical material aimed at preventing integration in schools.