Question

Describe how the cases of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) illustrate how a Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution can change over time.

Answer 1

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Step-by-step explanation:

The cases of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) both dealt with the concept of “separate but equal.” In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation was constitutional as long as everyone had rights to equal facilities. At the time, equal facilities were considered cool water fountains for whites, and warm hose water for African Americans. In 1954, in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court, composed of all new justices, overturned the constitutionality of separate but equal and deemed it unconstitutional. These cases go to show that the interpretation of the Constitution can change with social views of the time and often depends on who is in the Supreme Court at the time.

Answer 2

Plessy v Ferguson enabled segregation- the Supreme Court decided at that moment that as long as both sides were equal, they could be segregated. However, Brown v BoEoTK took down segregation. The Supreme Court decided that if two sides were segregated, then they couldn't be equal.

Basically, PvF and BvBoEoTK show that the Supreme Court used to think that segregation was ok, then the Supreme Court decided that segregation wasn't ok, which shows that the Supreme Court can change interpretation based on recent events.

Hope this helps!