PLESSY V. FERGUSON
Year: 1896
Result: 7:1, favor Ferguson
Related Constitutional issue/amendment: 14th amendment (equal protection)
Civil Rights or Civil Liberties: Rights
Significance/Precedent: The separation and social discrimination was legally recognized and accepted by law, with the argument that the two races were equally acknowledged by law; upheld separate-but-equal doctrine
Quote from majority opinion: "We are unable to see how this statute deprives him of, or in any way affects his right to, such property. If he be a white man and assigned to a colored coach, he may have his action for damages against the company for being deprived of his so-called property. Upon the other hand, if he be a colored man and be so assigned, he has been deprived of no property, since he is not lawfully entitled to the reputation of being a white man."
6-word summary: separate but equal, delayed black advancement
Result: 7:1, favor Ferguson
Related Constitutional issue/amendment: 14th amendment (equal protection)
Civil Rights or Civil Liberties: Rights
Significance/Precedent: The separation and social discrimination was legally recognized and accepted by law, with the argument that the two races were equally acknowledged by law; upheld separate-but-equal doctrine
Quote from majority opinion: "We are unable to see how this statute deprives him of, or in any way affects his right to, such property. If he be a white man and assigned to a colored coach, he may have his action for damages against the company for being deprived of his so-called property. Upon the other hand, if he be a colored man and be so assigned, he has been deprived of no property, since he is not lawfully entitled to the reputation of being a white man."
6-word summary: separate but equal, delayed black advancement