Plessy V. Ferguson
In September 1891 a group of blacks in New Orleans, Louisiana, formed the Citizens Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law. In June 1892 Homer Plessy sat in the car designated for whites only. Plessy was one-eighth black, but under Louisiana law he was considered black. The Citizens Committee alerted railroad officials that Plessy was sitting in the whites only car. Plessy was arrested and brought to court before Judge John H. Ferguson of the U.S. District Court in Louisiana. Plessy then attempted to halt the trial by suing Ferguson on the…
