Which Supreme Court case established the doctrine of 'separate but equal'?

Which Supreme Court case established the doctrine of 'separate but equal'?

• A. Plessy v. Ferguson
• B. Brown v. Board of Education
• C. Gideon v. Wainwright
• D. Miranda v. Arizona

Answer: (A)

The concept here is that establishing separate facilities for different races can be legal if those facilities are kept equal in quality. In the 1896 case, the Court upheld a Louisiana law that required separate railroad cars for Black and white passengers. The decision found that state-imposed segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment as long as the separate facilities were equal, creating the doctrine known as “separate but equal.” This legitimized a broad system of Jim Crow laws across the South, affecting schools, transportation, and many public spaces for decades. This doctrine was eventually overturned by a later case, which declared that segregation in public education is inherently unequal and unconstitutional, signaling the end of the legal basis for legal segregation. The other cases involve different issues—right to counsel and police interrogations—and a different question about education—so they do not establish the separate but equal principle.

The concept here is that establishing separate facilities for different races can be legal if those facilities are kept equal in quality. In the 1896 case, the Court upheld a Louisiana law that required separate railroad cars for Black and white passengers. The decision found that state-imposed segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment as long as the separate facilities were equal, creating the doctrine known as “separate but equal.” This legitimized a broad system of Jim Crow laws across the South, affecting schools, transportation, and many public spaces for decades.

This doctrine was eventually overturned by a later case, which declared that segregation in public education is inherently unequal and unconstitutional, signaling the end of the legal basis for legal segregation. The other cases involve different issues—right to counsel and police interrogations—and a different question about education—so they do not establish the separate but equal principle.