The significance of these cases stems from their challenge to the traditional "separate but equal" standard in civil rights questions. For over half a century, the Court has held that States ...

In 1896, after years of trials appeals, the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” was fair, and was not a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment requiring equal protection to all.

Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the legal doctrine of “separate but equal”. It was a ruling that enabled many states to enact racial segregation laws for ...