Plessy v. Ferguson

Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

Louisiana required railway companies to provide ‘separate but equal’ accommodations for Black and white passengers. Homer Plessy, who was seven-eighths white and one-eighth Black, deliberately violated the law by sitting in the white car. He was arrested and convicted. He challenged the law under the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Significance

Justice Brown’s 7-1 opinion upheld the Louisiana law, establishing the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine. The Court held that segregation did not imply the inferiority of Black citizens and that the Fourteenth Amendment was not intended to abolish social distinctions based on race. Justice Harlan’s solitary dissent declared that ’the Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.’ Plessy provided constitutional sanction for Jim Crow segregation for nearly 60 years until Brown v. Board of Education (1954).

Category

US Federal Case Law