‘Separate but equal’ ruling namesake Plessy is pardoned

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana board has posthumously pardoned 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 issued its unanimous decision on Friday, clearing the Creole man’s record of a conviction for refusing to leave a whites-only train car in New Orleans. The decision now goes to Gov. John Bel Edwards, who has final say over the pardon. Plessy was arrested in 1892 and pleaded guilty to violating the Separate Car Act after the Supreme Court’s ruling. He died in 1925 with the conviction on his record.