The supreme court’s ruling in plessy v. ferguson was problematic because *the court was not able to overturn the louisiana state law that required passengers be separated by race. *the court did not have any african american justices among its members. *it was unclear if plessy (who was of mixed race) broke the law by sitting in the whites-only coach. *it was based on the belief that segregation was permissible as long as the facilities were equal.