Plessy v. Ferguson Mock Trial

My litigation group, team "Red, White, and Better than You", was elected to be the defendant in the Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson To prepare for the case, my group and I began by researching and finding out all the information we could about the circumstances of the trial. We wanted to get a full understanding of the case and its background. The case itself was fought over the infringement of Homer Plessy's 14th amendment rights under the equal protection clause. Plessy believed the segregation was wrong and does not offer blacks the same protection and treatment under the law as whites, and is thus unconstitutional. The local Louisiana court and the states supreme court both ruled against Plessy, forcing him to pay a $25 fine for his crime. The case then made its way to the Supreme Court where the same decision would be made, along with the landmark ruling of "separate but equal", allowing segregation in public places.

My team and I were able to win the case because we were able to find other court decisions that set precedence for our argument. Our main legal document was the Civil Rights Cases of 1883, which repealed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, thus making segregation and discrimination in public accommodations and transportation legal. Because our argument was based off of solidified law and not the moral sentiments of the prosecution, we were able to win the case.
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment. I enjoyed planning out my argument based off the argument I believed the prosecution would make. I enjoyed having a counter statement to every argument or accusation they could have made. Through my research, however, I was able to see that even though I was on the winning side of the court case legally, the right decision was not the one chosen. Discriminatory and racist behaviors ran rampant across this country and still continue to this day.
I believe that if the people in power and influence during this time period had made the decision based off morality instead of legal precedence, the world we live in today would be much different.