Until 1971, states could maintain that women were not legally "persons" based on which supreme court decision? in re lockwood in re adler muller v. oregon brown v. state of virginia

That would be the case of "In re Lockwood 154 U.S." in which the court allowed states to determine the scope and the meaning of "person" which in this case the state of Virginia decided that the term "person" only applied to the males. Thus effectively until "Reed v. Reed" trial in 1971 the women were not legally "persons".

If you make it more clear i can answer it