Plessy Vs. Ferguson

Plessy Vs. Ferguson

1. Plessy vs. Fergusson, 163 U.S. 537 (1886)
2. Statement of the Facts: on June 7, 1892 Homer Plessy boarded a train in Louisiana headed to Covington. Homer Plessy was one eighth black and seven eighths white. However, under the Louisiana law enacted at the time, he was considered black despite being born seven eighths white. As an act of disobedience, he chose to sit in a car designated for white patrons only rather than sit in a car designated for “colored” patrons only. He was ordered to change seats and move to the car designated for “colored” customers. When he refused, he was arrested in violation of state law known as the Separate Car Act that ordained equal but separate seating for whites and “coloreds” by the state of Louisiana.
3. Procedural History: Homer Plessy sued the state of Louisiana for violation of his rights but lost in the court of appeal when Judge Howard Fergusson ruled that the state had the right to regulate the railroads that run through them. Therefore finding that Plessy’s rights were not violated. Plessy appealed to the state Supreme Court with the help of the “committee of citizens ”. The state Supreme Court affirmed judge Fergusson’s decision finding that the “separate car act” did not violate Plessy’s rights as a citizen. He, with further help from others, then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking a Writ of Prohibition . It would be a landmark decision that gave segregation and racism legal foundation in the United States, protected not just by state law, but also by federal law .
4. Cause of Action: Homer Plessy argued that the “separate car act,” which ordained that whites and coloreds have equal but separate cars, and the regulation of railroads by the state, was a violation of his thirteenth and fourteenth amendment rights.
5. Questions Presented: By the state imposing regulations on the railroads, did the state in fact impose involuntary servitude and slavery on its black citizens in violation of the thirteenth...