The Citizens' Committee was opposed to racial segregation and was responsible for multiple demonstrations in which African Americans rode on the "white" cars of trains.
Additionally, the committee hired private Detective Chris C. Cain to arrest Plessy and ensure that he be charged for violating the Separate Car Act, as opposed to a misdemeanor such as disturbing the peace.
[8] The judge presiding over his case, John Howard Ferguson, ruled that Louisiana had the right to regulate railroad companies while they operated within state boundaries.
[9] In the seven-to-one decision handed down on May 18, 1896 (Justice David Josiah Brewer did not participate because of the recent death of his daughter), the Court rejected Plessy's arguments based on the Fourteenth Amendment, seeing no way in which the Louisiana statute violated it.
"[10] Plessy returned to Ferguson's court, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to pay a $25 fine, which the Comité des Citoyens paid[11] before disbanding.