Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

1) Link to the Actual Opinion
Read the U.S. Reports opinion (PDF)

2) Summary of the Opinion
Homer Plessy, a mixed-race man, challenged Louisiana’s law requiring segregated railway cars. The Supreme Court upheld the law, ruling that “separate but equal” facilities for Black and white citizens did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

3) Why It Mattered
This case legitimized racial segregation and provided constitutional cover for Jim Crow laws across the South for more than half a century.

4) What It Provided or Took Away

• Took Away: Meaningful equal protection for Black Americans in public accommodations.
• Provided: Legal justification for racial segregation as long as states claimed facilities were “equal.”

5) Overreach or Proper Role?
This was a gross misreading of the 14th Amendment. The Court abdicated its role of protecting equality and instead entrenched systemic racism.

6) Plain-English Impact Today
Plessy stood until Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned it. Today, it serves as a cautionary tale of how courts can entrench injustice when they defer to discriminatory social norms.

• 14th Amendment
• Equal Protection
• Segregation
• Jim Crow Era