Plessy v. Ferguson

1. Anna Volpe Margaret Shin Lauren Rosenberg Hannah Michaelis Plessy v. Ferguson

2. Pictures Homer Plessy, who was 7/8 white and 1/8 black was arrested when he refused to move from the white-only section to the black-only section of a East Louisiana Railroad train. Plessy v. Ferguson legalized separate but equal facilities.

3. Political cartoon This political cartoon is stating that the justice department (Supreme Court justices) believed that separate-but-equal was fair and not treating the black population with inferiority. However, the black population, which was the main recipient of this discrimination, believed that separate-but-equal was blatantly “screaming” discrimination and prejudice.

4. Keywords • 13thAmendment-forbade slavery and involuntary servitude • 14thAmendment-states that no state can make or enforce any law which would discriminate against any citizen of the United States • Segregation- The action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things or being set apart • Writ of Certiorari- a common law writ issued by a superior court to one of inferior jurisdiction demanding the record of a particular case • Dissenting Opinion-an opinion written by a Supreme Court justice that states the reason(s) for going against the majority opinion • Majority Opinion-an opinion supporting the majority decision of the Supreme Court

5. Information about case • Homer Plessy, a 7/8 white, was arrested in June 7,1892when he refused to switch from the white to black railway carriage car; this was a planned challenge to the Separate Car Act. He was convicted on the basis that he had violated this Louisiana statute that legalized separate-but-equal railroad accommodations. Plessy appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Louisiana but lost there. He then appealed it to the Supreme Court where his writ of certiorari was granted. • It was argued that by forcing Plessy to move to the black car, his 13th and 14th Amendment rights were being violated. • On May 18,1896, the eight of the nine Supreme Court justices voted against Plessy, and in the majority opinion, it was stated that neither the 13th nor 14th Amendments were applicable to this case and that the Louisiana statute did not discriminate against blacks in the aspect that whites were also prohibited to sit in the black section of the railroad cars. • In the dissenting opinion by John Marshall Harlan, he attacked the constitutionality of the Louisiana statute and stated that the real origin of the statute was “not so much to exclude white persons from railroad cars occupied by blacks, as to exclude colored people from coaches occupied by or assigned to white persons.“ • The majority decision in Plessy v. Ferguson legalized racial segregation and gave a constitutional reasoning behind it until Brown v. Board of Education overruled this decision. • Chief Justice was Melville Fuller

6. "Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. ...” -Justice John Harlan in his dissenting statement

7. Citations • http://www.bgsu.edu • http://www.lawnix.com • http://www.pbs.org • Government in America