Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in the white section of a train despite being 1/8 black, which was illegal under Louisiana law at the time. The case went to the Supreme Court after lower courts, including Judge Ferguson, ruled that the state law mandating racial segregation on railroads was constitutional. The Supreme Court ultimately agreed in a decision upholding the "separate but equal" doctrine, finding that mandated racial segregation did not violate the 13th or 14th Amendments.

1. Plessy vs. Ferguson Armand Magardician & Anthony Parrillo

3. Arguments PLESSY FERGUSON Ferguson was the judge. He decided that the state could choose to regulate railroad companies that operated solely within the state of Louisiana. Therefore, Ferguson found Plessy guilty and declared the Separate Car Act constitutional. Plessy argued in court that the Separate Car Act violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution .