Constitutional Law

Black, White, and Constitutional Rights

Constitutional Law (CRJS400-1601A-02)

Patrick Donahue, Student ID#:  13245002

American InterContinental University

1/24/16

Abstract

In two landmark cases that set the precedent and affirmed basic civil rights for individuals of this country, proved to the people that the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights, were more than mere words on a piece of paper. The first case was at the height of an era when the black people of America were trying to achieve equal rights and establish themselves as an equal to the white people. A period in time when activist tested the “system” and the laws of both federal and state governments to gain equality and a fair chance at life. The Constitution, along with the Bill of Rights, was meant for all the citizens of America, not just for one color. Or was it? Why didn’t the founders of the country who drafted the Constitution address the issue of slavery? The second case, the essential right to remain silent, and to have an attorney represent you. Something we take for granted now, but back in the 60’s and long before that time it was not so prevalent.

Black, White, and Constitutional Rights

Summary of Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 16 S. Ct. 1138, 41 L. Ed. 256 (1896).

Case Brief:

        In June 1892, Homer A. Plessy purchased a train ticket from New Orleans to Covington, Louisiana. Plessy, a former shoemaker turned civil rights activist, openly proclaimed to the conductor that he was 1/8th African American (Editors, n.d.). He was then asked to remove himself from the “whites only” first class passenger car and to take a seat in the “blacks-only railroad car”, AKA the “Jim Crow Car”, where he was required by state law to ride as a passenger. Plessy refused to move cars and was promptly arrested by authorities and thrown in jail (Articles, 2016).

At the trial of Plessy, the Honorable Judge John H. Ferguson of the District Court of Orleans Parish presided over the case. Ferguson, a former slave owner himself, found Plessy guilty of violating the 1890’s Louisiana law that supported the segregation of public facilities from blacks and whites. The law also included the Separate but Equal Car Act. Plessy appealed the ruling to the Louisiana Supreme Court, who upheld Ferguson’s ruling. Plessy then brought the case before the United States Supreme Court, to get an injunction forbidding the state of Louisiana, in the name of Judge Ferguson, from carrying out the sentence. Plessy’s punishment for his guilt, $25 or 20 days in jail (Articles, 2016).