Plessy v. Ferguson
163 U.S. 537 · 1896-05-18
Separate but equal — the dissent of the first Justice Harlan waited fifty-eight years to become the law.
Edition: U. S. Reports, bound volume
Source: U. S. Reports, volume 163, at 537 (Library of Congress) · transcription: Caselaw Access Project
Voices: Mr. Justice Brown, after stating the case, delivered the opinion of the court. · Me. Justice Harlan dissenting.
This case turns upon the constitutionality of an act of the General Assembly of the State of Louisiana, passed in 1890, providing for separate railway carriages for the white and colored races. Acts 1890, No. 111, p. 152.
The first section of the statute enacts “that all railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in this State, shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white, and colored races, by providing two or more passenger coaches for each passenger train, or by dividing the passenger coaches by a partition so as to secure separate accommodations: Provided, That this section shall not be construed to apply to street railroads. No person or persons, shall be admitted to occupy seats in coaches, other than, the ones, assigned, to them on account of the race they belong to.”Read it in the reading room ›