Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
Justice Henry Brown’s majority opinion

Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
Justice Henry Brown’s majority opinion

The decision was not unanimous. Speaking for a seven-person majority, Justice Henry Brown delivered the opinion of the court. 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. . . .

The constitutionality of this act is attacked upon the ground that it conflicts both with the thirteenth amendment of the Constitution, abolishing slavery, and the fourteenth amendment, which prohibits certain restrictive legislation on the part of the states.

1. That it does not conflict with the thirteenth amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, is too clear for argument. . . .

Indeed, we do not understand that the thirteenth amendment is strenuously relied upon by the plaintiff. . . .

Street Law, Inc. and the Supreme Court Historical Society, Landmark Cases of the Supreme Court Web site
http://www.streetlaw.org/en/Page/435/Key_Excerpts_from_the_Majority_Opinion

1896