Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark Supreme Court Case that focused on which Fourteenth Amendment clause? (1 point)
• due process clause
• equal protection clause
• penalty clause
• citizenship clause
The correct answer is the equal protection clause.
The landmark Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson focused on the "Equal Protection Clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment.
To determine which Fourteenth Amendment clause the landmark Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson focused on, we need to examine the case itself. Plessy v. Ferguson was a significant case heard by the Supreme Court in 1896. It involved a man named Homer Plessy, who was of mixed race and identified as black. Plessy challenged the Louisiana law that required separate railway cars for black and white passengers.
In this case, the Supreme Court had to decide whether this segregation law violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Specifically, the case raised questions about the "equal protection" clause in the Fourteenth Amendment.
The "equal protection" clause, found in Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, states that no state shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." It was included in the Fourteenth Amendment to ensure equal treatment and protection under the law for all citizens, regardless of their race or ethnicity.
In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that the Louisiana law did not violate the equal protection clause because the separate railway cars provided for black and white passengers were deemed "separate but equal." This ruling established the doctrine of "separate but equal," which allowed for racially segregated facilities as long as they were considered equal in quality.
In summary, the Fourteenth Amendment clause focused on in the landmark Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson was the "equal protection" clause.