‘Separate but equal’ ruling namesake Plessy granted pardon by Louisiana board

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana board on Friday voted to pardon Homer Plessy, the namesake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1896 “separate but equal” ruling affirming state segregation laws.

The state Board of Pardon’s unanimous decision to clear the Creole man’s record of a conviction for refusing to leave a whites-only train car in New Orleans now goes to Gov. John Bel Edwards, who has final say over the pardon.

Plessy was arrested in 1892 after boarding the train car as part of a civil rights’ group’s efforts to challenge a state law that mandated segregated seating.

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