What did the Supreme Court decide in Brown v. Mississippi?

In the 1936 case Brown v. Mississippi, the U.S. Supreme Court reached a landmark decision by invalidating a state criminal conviction for the first time because it was based on a coerced confession.

Prior to this ruling, many state and local courts permitted the use of statements obtained through coercion as evidence in criminal trials. By overturning this conviction, the Supreme Court took a critical step toward ensuring that the fundamental human rights of defendants are protected against abusive law-enforcement practices, affirming the ethical principle that justice cannot be served through violence or intimidation.1