Plessy v. Ferguson
on May 18, 1896, by a seven-to-one majority (one justice did not participate), advanced the controversial “separate but equal” doctrine for assessing the constitutionality of racial segregation laws. Plessy v. Ferguson was the first major inquiry into the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment’s (1868) equal-protection clause, which prohibits the states from denying “equal protection of the laws” to any person within their jurisdictions. Although the majority opinion did not contain the phrase “separate but equal,” it gave constitutional sanction to laws designed to achieve racial segregation by means of separate and supposedly equal public facilities and services for African Americans and whites. It served as a controlling judicial precedent until it was overturned by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954).
Syllabus
A headnote; a short note preceding the text of a reported case that briefly summarizes the rulings of the court on the points decided in the case. The syllabus appears before the text of the opinion.
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Chief Justice M. Fuller
Agreed with the Majority Opinion
Was a Democrat from Maine. Voted in favor of Blacks 5/33 times. |
Justice H. Brown
Wrote the Majority Opinion
Was a Republican from Massachusetts. Voted in favor of Blacks 5/24 times. |
Justice S. Field
Agreed with the Majority Opinion
Was a Democrat from Connecticut. Voted in favor of Blacks 1/19 times |
Justice H. Gray
Agreed with the Majority Opinion
Was a Republican from Massachusetts. Voted in favor of Blacks 3/18 times. |
Justice G. Shiras
Agreed with the Majority Opinion
Was a Republican from Pennsylvania. Voted in favor of Blacks 1/10 times. |
Justice E. White
Agreed with the Majority Opinion
Was a Democrat from Louisiana. Voted in favor of Blacks 5/32 times. |
Justice R. Peckham
Agreed with the Majority Opinion
Was a Democrat from New York. Voted in favor of Blacks 4/27 times. |
Justice J. Harlan
Wrote a Dissenting Opinion.
Was a member of every political party available at the time at some point in time including the "Know Nothing" Party. By the time he joined the Supreme Court he was a Republican. Born in Kentucky he voted in favor of Blacks 20/44 times. |
Justice D. Brewer
Did not hear the case due to the death of his daughter
Was a Republican born in the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) but raised in Connecticut. Voted in favor of Blacks 6/31 times. |
Information about Voting history can be found in appendix 1 of this document.
