Question

Which best explains why the Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional?

Answer 1

The Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional since segregation laws did not provide equal protections or liberties to non-whites, the ruling was not consistent with the 14th Amendment.

Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 was a outstanding decision of the U.S. Supreme Court made in 1896. It advocated the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities remained equal in quality which constituted a doctrine refered to as "separate but equal".

Answer 2

Since segregation laws did not provide equal protections or liberties to non-whites, the ruling was not consistent with the 14th Amendment.

In Plessy v. Ferguson the Supreme Court decided that segregation was fine as long as things were equal..."separate but equal". However in Brown v. Board of Education, it was proven that when things are separate, they are not equal. By allowing for separation, they were creating inequalities. This then proved that the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling was unconstitutional. What's interesting is that the verdict has never been overturned. There have been other decisions like Brown v. Board of Education that help prevent separate but equal.