The correct answer is A) It set "separate but equal" as a legal precedent.
The ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson affected the legalities of segregation in that "It set "separate but equal" as a legal precedent.
In a time when racial segregation was a major issue in the United States, the decision of the US Supreme Court in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson (May 18, 1896) established the legal precedent of "separate but equal." One of the consequences of this controversial decision was that Jin Crow laws continue to hurt African Americans in the southern states. The Supreme Court stated the protection referred to the 14th Amendment was to rights such as voting rights, not for sitting on a special couch of a train.