The ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) was a legal decision in the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of the United States in which it was decided to maintain the constitutionality of racial segregation even in public places under the doctrine of «Separate but equal».
"Separate but equal" remained in US law until its challenge in 1954 by decision of the Supreme Court in the case Brown v. Board of Education.
Plessy v. Ferguson legitimized the movement towards segregation practices undertaken in the south, providing with impetus the advancement of segregation laws.