Facts: In the city of Louisville, Kentucky, a state law prohibited blacks from living in neighborhoods where the majority of homes were occupied by whites and also restricted whites from residing in majority black neighborhoods. The plaintiff, a white seller, sued a black purchaser who claimed that their contract was void because the law barred him from buying the home.
Decision: The Supreme Court held that the law violated the fourteenth amendment and therefore was unconstitutional. The court reasoned that while the objective may have been legitimate, laws cannot deny rights protected by the Constitution. It distinguished its decision from Plessy v. Ferguson by arguing that Plessy only required a class of people to conform to certain rules and did not deny the opportunity to ride the train or participate in some other entitled activity.
