Episode 3 of 3
Harlan's Dissent
- When
- 18 May 1896
- Where
- U.S. Supreme Court
Justice John Harlan wrote a dissent warning that the ruling would undermine national protection for civil rights and lead to an era of state-controlled racial segregation.
Harlan argued that the decision granted states legislative immunity in matters of race, requiring only that separate institutions be equal. He feared this would deprive citizens of the efficient protection previously accorded to slavery rights.
Sources
- Plessy v. Ferguson Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-07
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.