Landmark Court Decisions

Landmark Court Decisions

CRJS400-1503B-02

Unit 3 Individual Project

Cindy Condrey

American Intercontinental University

Landmark Court Decisions

        Cases heard in the court of law can become very important because it not only deals with the case at hand, but can have an effect on future cases to come.  Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) and Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) are landmark cases because of the significance they had during the time the cases were heard and how these two cases have changed our legal system today.  Plessy v. Ferguson dealt with the issues of racism and discrimination between blacks and whites and this case also dealt with white people believing they were dominate over the black individuals.  Miranda v. Arizona changed the way our legal system is now by allowing an individual not to incriminate themselves because of the Fifth Amendment.  

Factors That Influenced the Decision of Plessy v. Ferguson

        In 1896, segregation amongst white and blacks was a big issue.  White individuals believed that having separate but equal facilities was the fairest way to deal with the inequality amongst the white and black individuals.  In 1890, Louisiana passed a law known as the “Separate Car Act” in which all railway services must provide a separate but equal accommodations for those of colored races and whites.  In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, Plessy was of mixed race by being seven eights white and one eighth black.  Plessy purchased a ticket for the white compartment on a train and was arrested for refusing to move to the compartment for the blacks.  Plessy believed that the statute he was charged with violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of the Constitution (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896).  The lower court decided with Ferguson, so Plessy took his case to the Supreme Court.

        The Supreme Court ruled that Plessy’s Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were not violated.  The factors that influenced the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), was that the majority of the Supreme Court justices focused more on the separate but equal part of this case, instead of examining this case as racial discrimination.  The majority of Justices believed that having a separate but equal railcar did not violate the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, which is what the case of Plessy rested upon.  The Thirteenth Amendment is what ended slavery and allowed any citizen, no matter of race, the freedom to live their life without being owned by another human (The Constitution, n.d.).  The Fourteenth Amendment allowed all slaves American citizenship and the same rights as all other Americans.  The majority of the justices believed that Plessy’s Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were not violated because the railcar had a separate section for both white and black individuals (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896).