Plessy v. Ferguson

Plessy v Ferguson, 163 US 537 (1896)

Who was Homer Plessy?

Homer Plessy was a citizen of New Orleans, Louisiana, classified as an "Octoroon" by 19th-Century standards, meaning he was one-eighth African in descent. Plessy had one black grandmother, a Haitian "free woman of color," named Catherine Mathieu, who married and bore eight children with Homer's French Caucasian grandfather, Germain Plessy. Homer was very light-skinned, and said his African heritage was "not discernible."

Plessy belonged to a group of New Orleans' African-American professionals, the Citizens Committee, that deliberately staged confrontations over Jim Crow (segregation) laws in Louisiana.

What role did Homer Plessy play in the case?

In 1890, the Louisiana State Legislature passed the Separate Car Act (Act 111), which enforced "separate but equal" travel accommodations in railway transportation. The Act stated: "...all railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in this state shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white, and the colored races, by providing two or more passenger coaches for each passenger train, or by dividing the passenger coaches by a partition so as to secure separate accommodations" Violation of the law was a misdemeanor crime punishable by a $25.00 fine or a 20-days jail sentence.

Daniel Desdunes, one of the leaders of the Citizens' Committee, was first to challenge the law. He purchased a first-class ticket from the Louisiana & Nashville Railroad to travel from New Orleans, LA, to Montgomery, AL, across state lines. Before his case could be tried in court, however, the Louisiana Supreme Court voted to uphold federal Interstate Commerce Clause regulations prohibiting segregation in railway transit, rendering Desdunes' case moot.

The Citizens' Committee raised $3,000 to finance a second dispute, and enlisted New York attorney Albion Tourgee, a well-known former judge and civil rights activist, to provide advice and legal counsel. Tourgee suggested the next attempt to challenge the law should be made by someone with a light complexion, a suggestion that offended some members of the Committee.

Homer Plessy was selected as an appropriate candidate to challenge the law. Plessy purchased a first-class ticket on the East Louisiana Railroad on June 7, 1982, boarded the first-class "whites only" railroad coach, and took a seat. The trip was entirely within the state of Louisiana, so the Railroad was required to follow State, rather than Federal, laws.

Because Plessy did not appear to have any African-American heritage, the Committee conspired with the East Louisiana Railroad, which wanted the Separate Car Act overturned for economic reasons, to challenge Plessy's right to sit in the segregated coach. They also hired a private detective to ride along and make a citizen's arrest, to ensure Plessy was charged with breaking the law.

When the conductor made his rounds to check tickets, he asked Plessy if he was white or "colored." Plessy replied that he was "colored." Railroad officials conspiring with the Citizens' Committee insisted Plessy remove himself to the Jim Crow car; Plessy refused; and the private detective arrested him on charges of violating the Separate Car Act.

Plessy was brought before Judge Ferguson in the Criminal District Court for the Parish of New Orleans, but refused to enter a plea. His attorneys, Tourgee and local counsel John C. Walker, argued the law was unconstitutional under the Thirteenth Amendment. Judge Ferguson found Plessy guilty and fined him $500.

Plessy's attorneys appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which affirmed the lower court decision, then to the US Supreme Court. At that point, Plessy's active role in the case was complete.

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The Supreme Court's decision holding segregation in the public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education,(1954) overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine allowed by Plessy v. Ferguson, (1896).

In Brown, the Court ruled unanimously that "separate but equal" was "inherently unequal" in that it denied equal educational opportunities to minorities. The decision in Brown invoked the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause.

Case Citation:

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483 (1954)

Chief Justice

Earl Warren

Associate Justices

Hugo Black

Stanley F. Reed

Felix Frankfurter

William O. Douglas

Robert H. Jackson

Harold H. Burton

Tom C. Clark

Sherman Minton.

Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson lead the Court in 1952, when Brown v. Board of Education was granted certiorari and first argued, but died before the justices reached a verdict. The case was reargued in 1953 with Chief Justice Earl Warren presiding over the Court.

Case Citation:

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483 (1954)

The decision of Brown v. Board of Education, (1954) declared the previous ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson, (1896) unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause.

Using a Brandeis Brief, in which "social fact" is presented as evidence, it was shown that "Separate but Equal" segregation (the ruling of Plessy) was inherently unequal because of the both the tangible inferiority in such a system and the feeling of inferiority it induced it created.

Case Citation:

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)

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