In November 1881, Tony Pace, a black man, and Mary Cox, a white woman, had been convicted in Alabama of the crime of living together in a state of adultery or fornication. The judge had been lenient and sentenced them to the minimum of two years in prison; he could have sentenced them to seven years. The law did not distinguish between mixed couples who were married and those who were not, because such unions were illegal in the state. Mr. Pac

In 1959, a white jurist stated the following about legal marriage: "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay, and red and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend the races to mix." (3) This example of racism is reflective of the judicial tone during that time period. Racial barriers had increased the separation of the races. Although many blacks achieved status in science, the professions and even business, the emphasis was always on the "separate" but equal.

"The Rand Corporation undertook the major attempt to examine racial bias in the jury as part of its study of civil cases in Chicago. Its statistics show that over the 20 year period of the study (1959 to 1979), black plaintiffs consistently were less likely to win and black defendants more likely to lose than were white ones, the black plaintiff win ratio rising only when the defendant was also black. Even when they won, black plaintiffs suing black defendants got 40% less money than did white plaintiffs suing white plaintiffs for the same type of injury. In cases involving serious injuries, the black average award was $45,000 less than for whites." (8)

In Florida, 1887, a law was adopted requiring railroads to carry Negroes and whites in separate cars and compartments. Other states followed suit. In New Orleans, a group of Negro leaders organized a committee to fight the separate-but-equal law through the courts. The railroad officials were sympathetic and helpful, some because they did not like the law on moral grounds, others because the hoped to avoid the extra expense of providing extra cars to satisfy the law. A member of the committee got himself arrested for sitting in a white coach on a trip from New Orleans to Mobile. Before he could be tried, the state supreme court ruled that the law could not apply to interstate passengers, since that was an area reserved for Congress. The committee sought counsel, and in June, 1892, Homer Plessy sat down in a car reserved for whites on the East Louisiana Railroad for a ride strictly within the state. Since he was lighter in color than many of the other white passengers because of his racial mix. arrangements were made in advance to arrest him and charge him with violation of segregation laws. Albion Tourg'ee was hired to defend Plessy in the court presided by Judge John Ferguson. Tour'gee asked the court to rule

Some common words found in the essay are:
Black Americans, Rand Corporation, Plessy Ferguson, Supreme Court, , Almighty God, Rodney King, Orleans Negro, Mary Cox, OJ Simpson, legal system, supreme court, law firms, legal system provides, verdict black defendant, black defendant, black defendants, defendant trial, poor defendants, offenders usually, gender bias, receive harsher sentences, trial predominantly white, racial gender, ethnic minorities law,
Approximate Word count = 1692
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)