Read the quotation from justice john marshall harlan in his plessy v. ferguson dissent in 1896. “our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.” the views harlan expressed in this quotation were later adopted by the supreme court in the brown v. board of education decision. similar to the views of the other justices, who ruled against homer plessy. immediately adopted by southern states to justify the end of jim crow laws. used to justify the “separate but equal” doctrine and continued segregation.