Supreme Court Cases: The Plessy V. Ferguson Case

One of the Supreme Court Cases that were held was Plessy V. Ferguson, which was argued on April 18, 1896 until May 18, 1896. This issue was over the law that trains, would have to provide separate accommodations to both black and white races equally. One man who was mostly Caucasian and partially African had the rights of a white citizen. For this reason, he bought a ticket for first class, however was not allowed to be seated within this area due to the judgment of a conductor. The man who is Plessy, refused what he was told to do and as a result was taken off to be imprisoned in jail. The facts that support this is that, Plessy violated the act of the separation of blacks and whites. It also stated that what occurred conflicted with the 13th and 14th amendment. On top of this, “…the court sustained the demurrer, overruled the plea, and ordered petitioner to plead over to the facts set forth in the information…” (Plessy V. Ferguson). This was the information behind the case and would only be continued if the judge had a writ of prohibition.

The rationale behind this statement was that, there was no violation of the 13th or 14th amendment. This was due to the fact that the distinction between the races did not imply anything that broke the rights assumed in the 13th amendment. Not only that, but the 14th amendment only protects the people in only a political point of view instead of social equality as well. The backing behind all of this is that all citizens in the eyes of the constitution have no color and as a result shows that there is no difference in class. Therefore, since Plessy insisted in being in coach, which was not for his particular race, he was subject to being fined and jailed for his