“Separate but equal” is one of the most infamous lines in American legal history. At the end of the 1800s a nearly unanimous Supreme Court defended segregation as long as Blacks and Whites theoretically had equal treatment. It would take more than half a century to undo this decision in “Plessy v. Ferguson.”

With Joe Biden's upcoming inauguration, we want to unpack a larger history of the Supreme Court and American government. Politicians, lawyers and plaintiffs spend years building up precedent, and Plessy was no exception. For this episode we sit down with former Judge and Podcaster Craig Estlinbaum to discuss the "Road to Plessy vs. Ferguson”. How were landmark Civil Rights overturned and undermined at the end of the 1800s? How can this help us understand our modern legal system?

Craig Estlinbaum was judge of the 130th District Court of Texas from 2001 through December 2020 and has been adjunct professor of law at South Texas College of Law since 2004. He regularly speaks before bar associations and law school programs and his work has been published in law journals at St. Mary's Law School, at South Texas College of Law and elsewhere. He also co-hosts the podcast Hooks & Runs, a podcast about baseball, music and culture

Produced by Joseph Hawthorne

Dill Pickles Rag by Charles L Johnson
The Entertainer by Scott Joplin