Plessy v. Ferguson

About the Author

Justice Henry Billings Brown wrote the majority opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson. Brown was born on March 2, 1836, in South Lee, Massachusetts. After graduating from Yale College, he studied law at Yale Law School and Harvard Law School. He served as a U.S. deputy marshal, assistant U.S. attorney, and federal judge of the Eastern District of Michigan for fifteen years before being confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1890. He retired from the Court in 1906 and died on September 4, 1913.

Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote the sole dissenting opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson. Harlan was born on June 1, 1833, in Boyle County, Kentucky. After graduating from Centre College, he studied law at Transylvania University. Although he was a former slaveholder, Harlan fought for the Union Army in the Civil War. Harlan opposed abolition before the war and full equality for Blacks just after the war. However, in the wake of the Civil War, Harlan joined the Republican Party and reversed his view of slavery and many racial equality issues. Harlan was confirmed to the Court on November 29, 1877. In addition to the Plessy dissent, he dissented in the Civil Rights Cases (1883), arguing that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was constitutional and should have been held to legally require equal public accommodations for those of all races. Harlan served on the Court until his death on October 14, 1911.