Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

E3886

U.S. Supreme Court case civil rights case landmark court decision segregation case

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine, legitimizing Jim Crow laws for decades.

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All labels observed (8)

Label	Occurrences
Plessy v. Ferguson	22
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) canonical	1
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) as applied to public education	1
Plessy v. Ferguson doctrine of separate but equal	1
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)	1
U.S. Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)	1
U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing “separate but equal” doctrine	1
U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson	1

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	U.S. Supreme Court case ⓘ civil rights case ⓘ landmark court decision ⓘ segregation case ⓘ
areaOfLaw	civil rights law ⓘ constitutional law ⓘ racial segregation law ⓘ
citation	163 U.S. 537 ⓘ
concernedStatute	Jim Crow laws ⓘ surface form: Louisiana Separate Car Act of 1890
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted	Equal Protection Clause ⓘ surface form: Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause Thirteenth Amendment ⓘ
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
criticizedFor	entrenching racial segregation ⓘ narrow interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause ⓘ
decisionDate	1896-05-18 ⓘ
defendant	John H. Ferguson ⓘ
dissentClaimed	segregation laws are inconsistent with the equality of all citizens before the law ⓘ
dissentFamousFor	John Marshall Harlan’s statement that the Constitution is color-blind ⓘ
dissentingOpinionBy	John Marshall Harlan ⓘ
effect	institutionalized separate but equal doctrine across the American South ⓘ legitimized Jim Crow laws for decades ⓘ
fullName	Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
held	state racial segregation laws for public facilities are constitutional under the Equal Protection Clause if facilities are equal in quality ⓘ
historicalSignificance	became the primary legal foundation for racial segregation in the United States ⓘ marked a major setback for Reconstruction-era civil rights gains ⓘ
issue	constitutionality of racial segregation in railroad cars ⓘ
jurisdiction	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
legalDoctrineEstablished	separate but equal ⓘ
locationOfIncident	New Orleans ⓘ surface form: New Orleans, Louisiana
majorityOpinionBy	Henry Billings Brown ⓘ
originatedFrom	Louisiana state law ⓘ
overruledBy	Brown v. Board of Education ⓘ surface form: Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
plaintiff	Homer Plessy ⓘ
plaintiffAncestry	mixed-race (one-eighth Black) ⓘ
plaintiffRaceClassification	Jim Crow laws ⓘ surface form: Black (under Louisiana law)
relatedCase	Brown v. Board of Education ⓘ Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education ⓘ
relatedConcept	racial segregation in public transportation ⓘ separate but equal doctrine ⓘ
relatedMovement	Jim Crow laws ⓘ surface form: Jim Crow era
stateCourt	Louisiana Supreme Court ⓘ
stateInvolved	Louisiana ⓘ
subsequentImpact	became a symbol of legalized racism in U.S. history ⓘ influenced segregation policies in education, transportation, and public accommodations ⓘ
typeOfSegregation	de jure racial segregation ⓘ
upheld	constitutionality of Jim Crow segregation laws ⓘ
vote	7–1 ⓘ

Referenced by (29)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

American South (19th and early 20th centuries) → associatedWithDecision → Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ⓘ

Brown v. Board of Education → overruledPrecedent → Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ⓘ

this entity surface form: Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) as applied to public education

Fourteenth Amendment → keyCase → Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ⓘ

subject surface form: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution