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Why did Homer Plessy’s attorneys argue that railroad conductors could not fairly determine a passenger’s race?

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Plessy v. Ferguson judgment — Plessy v. Ferguson *Plessy* v. *Ferguson* judgment, issued by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 18, 1896, advancing the controversial “separate but equal” doctrine for assessing the constitutionality of racial segregation laws.

Homer Plessy’s attorneys argued that railroad conductors could not fairly determine a passenger’s race because the matter of race—both as a question of fact and of law—was too complex to be delegated to a railway official.1

The legal team, led by Albion Tourgée, intentionally chose a plaintiff of mixed race to expose the inherent ambiguities in defining "white" and "colored" categories under the Separate Car Act. They contended that because the law failed to provide a consistent definition of race, it was impossible for a conductor to enforce the segregation mandate fairly or accurately. By highlighting these scientific and legal complications, the attorneys aimed to demonstrate that the state legislature could not reasonably assign such a subjective and difficult determination to train employees.231