Plessy v. Ferguson (1896):
Decision Established Doctrine of "Separate but Equal

Background Information 

 In 1890, Louisiana passed a statute called the "Separate Car Act". This law declared that all rail companies carrying passengers in Louisiana had to provide separate but equal accommodations for white and non-white passengers. The penalty for sitting in the wrong compartment was a fine of $25 or 20 days in jail.

 Homer Plessy was a 30-year-old shoemaker and a resident of Louisiana. In 1892, Plessy purchased a first-class ticket on the East Louisiana Railway, from New Orleans to Covington, Louisiana. Although Plessy was only one-eighth black, under Louisiana law he was considered black. Therefore, he was required to sit in the "Colored" car. Instead, Plessy sat in the car for "White" passengers. When he refused to move, he was jailed.
Plessy argued in court that the Separate Car Act violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. The Thirteenth Amendment banned slavery and the Fourteenth Amendment requires that the government treat people equally. John Howard Ferguson, the judge hearing the case, had stated in a previous court decision that the Separate Car Act was unconstitutional if applied to trains running outside of Louisiana. In this case, however, he declared that the law was constitutional for trains running within the state. Ferguson found Plessy guilty of not leaving the whites-only car.  

                                                
Before Judge Ferguson made his decision, Plessy filed a petition to ask the Louisiana State Supreme Court (a higher court) to stop the judge from making his decision. Plessy argued in this separate case that his ancestry was seven-eighths Caucasian and only one-eighth African and that he should be treated like any white man.                                                                                       
The Louisiana State Supreme Court asked Judge Ferguson to answer Plessy's petition. Ferguson said that the Separate Car Act was constitutional and that Plessy refused to admit that he was a black man. The Louisiana Supreme Court agreed with Judge Ferguson that the Separate Car Act was constitutional. Plessy then took his case, Plessy v. Ferguson, to the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in the country. Judge John Howard Ferguson was named in the case because he had been named in the petition to the Louisiana State Supreme Court, not because he was a party to the initial lawsuit.                                                                     
Classroom Materials                                                                           

Concept-Discrimination                                                                                  
Objectives (teach it to them )-                                        Students will understand concepts of discrimination

Students will understand forms of discrimination                                                                
                                                                                      Activities-                                                                             Brownbag Test

Brown eyes-Blues eyes Experiment

Research the history of the case by using the internet

Research U.S. Constitution that applies to the case

Evaluation-                                                                          Oral Presentation

Mock Trial

Authors & Credits: 

Street Law & The Supreme Court Historical Society, Landmark Cases--Background Information