Henry Billings Brown

Henry Billings Brown
Brown's portrait by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1905
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
In office January 5, 1891 – May 28, 1906[1]
Nominated by	Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	Samuel Freeman Miller
Succeeded by	William Henry Moody
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
In office March 19, 1875 – December 29, 1890
Nominated by	Ulysses S. Grant
Preceded by	John W. Longyear
Succeeded by	Henry Harrison Swan
Personal details
Born	(1836-03-02)March 2, 1836 Lee, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	September 4, 1913(1913-09-04) (aged 77) Bronxville, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Caroline Pitts ​ ​ (m. 1864; died 1901)​ Josephine Tyler ​ (m. 1904)​
Education	Yale University (BA) Harvard University
Signature

Henry Billings Brown (March 2, 1836 – September 4, 1913) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1891 to 1906.

Although a respected lawyer and U.S. District Judge before ascending to the high court, Brown is harshly criticized for writing the majority opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, an opinion widely regarded as one of the most ill-considered decisions ever issued by the Court, which upheld the legality of racial segregation in public transportation. Plessy legitimized existing state laws establishing racial segregation, and provided an impetus for later segregation statutes. Legislative achievements won during the Reconstruction Era were erased through Plessy's "separate but equal" doctrine.^[2]