Download Making the Arguments in a Landmark Case: PLESSY v

Making the Arguments in a Landmark Case: PLESSY v. FERGUSON
(Description taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessy_v._Ferguson)
Immediately after the end of the Civil War in 1865, during the period known as
Reconstruction, the federal government was able to provide some protection for the civil
rights of the newly freed slaves. But when Reconstruction ended in 1877 and federal
troops were withdrawn, southern state governments began passing Jim Crow laws that
prohibited blacks from using the same public accommodations as whites. The Supreme
Court had ruled, in the Civil Rights Cases that the Fourteenth Amendment only applied to
the actions of state governments, not to those of "individuals", and consequently did not
protect persons from individuals or private entities from violating their civil rights. In
particular, the Court invalidated most of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, a law passed by the
Republican controlled Congress to protect African Americans from private acts of
discrimination.
In 1890, the State of Louisiana had passed a law that required separate accommodations
for Blacks and Whites on railroads, including separate railway cars. Concerned, several
black and white citizens in New Orleans formed an association dedicated to the repeal of
that law. They persuaded Homer Plessy, who was one-eighth African, to test it. In 1892,
Plessy purchased a first-class ticket on the East Louisiana Railway from New Orleans.
The railroad company had been informed already as to Plessy's racial lineage, and after
Plessy had taken a seat in the whites only railway car, he was asked to vacate it and sit
instead in the "blacks only" car. Plessy refused and was immediately arrested.
Plessy was remanded for trial in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, despite his objections that the
Louisiana law was in violation of the Constitution. He was convicted and fined $25.
Eventually the case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Your Task
1. Two people should play the role of the lawyers in this case, one for Homer Plessy
and one for the state. Come up with your main arguments for the case.
2. The rest of the group are a panel of judges who will hear the case and make their
decision based solely on the arguments made by the lawyers. Make sure that
some elements of Constitutional law are part of your decision
Key Constitutional Framework for this Case: THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT