Plessy V. Ferguson

The main issue that is brought up here is if a law separating blacks and whites violate either side right. Homer Plessy was a man of mixed race (one-eighth African descent) and he purchased a first class train ticket but in the state of Louisiana, he was classified as black which required him to sit in the "colored" car. Plessy had taken his seat in the whites-only car and was asked to leave and when he didn't he was arrested on the spot. He was then removed from the train at Press and Royal streets.

This was then taken to court and Plessy's lawyers argued that his thirteenth and fourteenth amendment rights were violated which required for there to be equal treatment for both black and white citizens. The judge was John Howard Ferguson who had disagreed with Plessy by ruling that the Louisiana government had the right to regulate railroad companies if they were within state boundaries. This led to Plessy being convicted and had to pay a $25 fine.

This was a clear violation of his rights as a citizen of the United States. The statement separate but equal is clearly violated here because he bought a ticket for a first-class train ride and he was to either be removed from the train or sent to the "colored" car which was not nearly as nice as the first class car. The word "Equal" has no place in this court case because the term and the phrase were not upheld in the final decision.