The landmark legal case that ended segregation in public schools in the United States was Brown v. Board of Education. Decided in 1954 by the Supreme Court, the case ruled that racial segregation in public education was unconstitutional, effectively overturning the precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, which upheld the "separate but equal" doctrine. The Court found that segregated schools were inherently unequal and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision was crucial in the Civil Rights Movement, signaling a shift in legal attitudes towards segregation and inspiring further actions towards racial equality across various aspects of American society.