Plessy vs. Ferguson

1. Plessy vs. Ferguson 1896

3. Background • During the later part of Reconstruction, Southern State legislatures started enforcing more Jim Crow laws to legally make African Americans more like second class citizens • When the Supreme Court ruled on the Civil Rights Cases of 1883 the Court stated that the 14th amendment did not guarantee that private segregation would happen under the Equal Protection Clause created by this amendment • However, they had not stated anything about the segregation in public

4. Cont’d • Louisiana had created a law in 1890 that required separate seating of the railcars based on race • There was a fine of twenty-five dollars or a jail term of up to twenty days for violators • Homer Plessy was a successful businessman who lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana • He was only one-eighth African American • He was returning from New Orleans to Baton Rouge

5. Cont’d • Acting as part of the Citizens’ Committee to try to end Jim Crow Laws, Plessy sat in the wrong part of the train intentionally to try to start a case • He refused to move to a different compartment and got arrested and charged on June 7th 1892 • He petitioned the Louisiana Supreme Court for a formal written order against the trial court judge Ferguson to get rid of the charges for violation of the State Law • Plessy was convicted and fined but then chose to appeal his case to the Supreme Court

7. The 14th amendment: no state can make a law that deprives a citizen from privileges or immunities given to U.S. citizens • The 13th amendment: abolishes slavery stating “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment of crime…” The Question Did the Louisiana State law which required segregation violate the 13th or 14th amendments?

8. Decision The Supreme Court ruled against Plessy • They said that the “equal protection of the laws” stated in the 14th amendment gave the state the privilege to have “separate but equal” facilities • The court also said the law did not violate the 13th amendments banning of slavery

9. Opinions of the Justices Concurring (agreement) Dissenting (against) • Henry Brown claimed the 14th amendment tried “to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but the nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social…equality.” • For the 13th amendment he felt a law that was suggesting a division between races has nothing to do with slavery or forced service • John M. Harlan was a former slave owner was against racial division • He thought there is no dominating class established by law in this country. • He said “…Our Constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.”

10. Precedent • Set the precedent of separate but equal is okay • It lead to a ton of Jim Crow laws, over the next half a century, being declared constitutional • It wasn’t until brown vs. Broad of Education that separate but equal was declared no longer constitutional

11. Publicity For Plessy For Louisiana State • The Citizens’ Committee supported Plessy because they felt segregated facilities were a violation of the Equal Protection Clause • Because he was an active citizen he should not have been denied rights; should not have been made to give up his seat. • The Louisiana Law violated the Equal Protection Clause and thus was not constitutional • Each state has the right to make laws to protect the public’s best interest • The segregation of facilities was the publics desire in Louisiana • The separate but equal facilities provided the requirement made by the 14th amendment while satisfying white citizens demands • The Civil Rights Cases of 1883 made segregation in private matters not a concern of the government, so why should a state be prohibited from enacting laws that allowed such things?

12. Our Opinion • We would have supported the courts decision that the Louisiana law was justified because the law was not in any way violating the 13th or 14th amendment and was supported by the precedent set by the Civil Rights Cases of 1883 • The 13th amendment dealing with slavery was not violated because no one was being forced to be owned by anyone or do any labors • The 14th amendment was not violated because he was still allowed to take the same transportation from point A to point B

13. Works Cited • www.pbs.org/.../antebellum/landmark_plessy.html • http://www.infoplease.com/us/supreme-court/cases/ar29.html • Patrick, John J. “Plessy v. Ferguson.” Oxford University Press, 2001. eLibrary. Web. 18 Feb 2011. • “PLESSY V. FERGUSON.” The Readers Companion to American History. 01 Dec. 1991. eLibrary. Web. 18 Feb 2011. • http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/plessy/plessy.html • Bing.com