The Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) case was particularly significant. In this case, the Supreme Court maintained the constitutionality of racial segregation laws. The court case was the first to query about the 1868 Equal Protection Clause (Cates & Armstrong, 2013). The clause expounds that the states should not deny civilians equal protection of the law within their jurisdiction. In particular, the Louisiana statute stated that railway firms ought to provide separate but equal accommodation for the colored and white races. According to Cates and Armstrong (2013), the ruling by the Supreme Court provided legal sanction to “Jim Crow” segregation laws. In this case the plaintiff was Home Adolph Plessy (1862-1925). Adolph was prosecuted after he declined to abandon the section of the train that was preserved for whites. According to the New Orleans Court, Plessy infringed the 1890 law by taking the vacant seat in a white-only car. The argument of the plaintiff was that the segregation law breached the Equal Protection clause. Similarly, the plaintiff claimed that the law violated the Thirteen Amendment that banned slavery.

Conversely, the defendant was Judge John H. Ferguson (1838-1915). He was the Judge of the New Orleans Criminal Court. According to the ruling by the Supreme Court, the 14^th Amendment focused on fostering equality before the law; however, race equality only extended to cover the political and civil rights and not the social rights (Cates & Armstrong, 2013). The Judge further explained that the superiority of one race to another socially makes it impossible for the US Constitution to consider them in a similar plane. On the same note, the decision of the Court to reject was based on the argument that under the law, both the blacks and whites were given equal facilities. Similarly, they were equally punished for violating the law.

In conclusion, the court ruling on Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) case was based on the concept of separate but equal facilities. According to the plaintiff, the Separate Car Act of Louisiana violated the 13th and 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Although the Supreme Court disagreed with the plaintiff’s claim, the final decision made segregation to become a law in the country. In my opinion, the decision by the Court was right because the Separate Car Act did not differ with the 14th Amendment. The intention of the Amendment was to secure the legal equality of blacks and whites. The accommodation for whites and blacks were considered to be equal.

Reference

Cates, D., & Armstrong, M. (2013). Plessy v. Ferguson: Segregation and the separate but equal policy. Minneapolis, MN: ABDO Pub.

 
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