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Plessy V. Ferguson Summary

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Case Analysis: Plessy v. Ferguson

Citation: Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)

Argued: April 18, 1896

Date Decided: May 18, 1896

Vote: 7-1: This decision was in favor of Ferguson. The court ruled that segregation alone does not necessarily establish discrimination that goes against the law. Equal, however separate adjustments for blacks and whites as expressed by the state of Louisiana, does not go against the equal protection clause as founded in the Fourteenth Amendment (Plessy v. Ferguson 1896).

Facts of Case: Homer Plessy, who was part white and part black took a seat in a whites only railway car. At this this time, Louisiana had enforced a law that forced separate railway cars for blacks and whites. When approached by law enforcement, Plessy refused to get off of the train. Because of his refusal, he was arrested and fined (Plessy v. …show more content…

The court ruled that a case must pass three tests in order to avoid violation of the First Amendment in regards to the Establishment Clause. The court found that the passing of state laws that creates a religious organization is a violation of the Constitution (Lemon v. Kurtzman, 1971).

Facts of Case: There is a Nonpublic School Act that allowed the Superintendent of Pennsylvania and Rhode Island public schools the ability to use part of the funding for private school funding. The law stated that the funding could be used only if the teachers taught the same content as the public schools and cease from teaching religious content. The plaintiffs represented Lemon who had a child in a Pennsylvania public school believing that there was a violation of the separation of church and state. “In Rhode Island, the plaintiffs argued that it went against the Establishment Clause. The district court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs agreeing that there was indeed a violation of the First Amendment” (Lemon v. Kurtzman,

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