- separate but equal
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sep·a·rate but equal /'se-prət-, -pə-rət-/ n: the doctrine set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court that sanctioned the segregation of individuals by race in separate but equal facilities but that was invalidated as unconstitutional see also brown v. board of education of topeka and plessy v. ferguson in the important cases section
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
- separate but equal
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adj.Describing a doctrine, now generally believed to be unconstitutional, that held that the races could be treated equally although segregated into different facilities.
The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008.
- separate but equal
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n. The once-argued doctrine that all races are treated fairly when substantially equal facilities are made available to all, even though the races-meaning especially African Americans and Caucasians-are restricted to separate facilities. It was the argument of segregationists during the civil-rights controversy in the 1950s and '60s and was ultimately ruled to be in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The doctrine was established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and overturned in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). It was found that separate is inherently unequal, and that segregation of whites from blacks in schools created a sense of inferiority that tended to impede educational and mental development of African-American children.
Webster's New World Law Dictionary. Susan Ellis Wild. 2000.
- separate but equal
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The doctrine first enunciated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 16 S. Ct. 1138, 41 L. Ed. 256 (1896), to the effect that establishing different facilities for blacks and whites was valid under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as long as they were equal.
Dictionary from West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005.
- separate but equal
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The doctrine first enunciated by the U.S. Supreme Court in plessy v. ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 16 S. Ct. 1138, 41 L. Ed. 256 (1896), to the effect that establishing different facilities for blacks and whites was valid under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as long as they were equal.
Short Dictionary of (mostly American) Legal Terms and Abbreviations.
