Period 6, Day 3: "Separate But Equal" in the Jim Crow South

Justice Harlan was the sole voice who disagreed with the majority of his colleagues in the 6-1 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling.

While some Supreme Court cases are decided unanimously, other times the justices do not agree with the majority decision. These justices often write dissenting opinions that express how and why they disagree with the majority decision. In his dissent, Justice Harlan argues that segregation violated the 14th Amendment because it used the law to sanction inequality among races.

Though dissents do not become law as majority opinions do, they are important because they document the struggle between different interpretations of the law. Sometimes the dissent in one case becomes the prevailing viewpoint in a future case that overturns an earlier decision.