In City of Charleston v. Branch, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether a city ordinance that prohibited African Americans from entering the city after sunset was constitutional. The ordinance was challenged by a group of African Americans who had been arrested for violating the ordinance. The Supreme Court held that the ordinance was unconstitutional because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court reasoned that the ordinance was not based on any rational basis and was instead based on racial discrimination. The Court also noted that the ordinance was not necessary to protect public safety or health, and that it was not narrowly tailored to serve a legitimate government interest. The Court concluded that the ordinance was an unconstitutional violation of the Equal Protection Clause and that the African Americans who had been arrested for violating the ordinance were entitled to damages. This decision established the principle that laws that discriminate on the basis of race are unconstitutional.

In City of Charleston v. Branch, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a city ordinance that prohibited African Americans from entering certain public places violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. The majority opinion held that it did not violate this clause because there were no racial distinctions in the law and thus no discrimination against any particular race or group of people. However, Justice Field dissented from this ruling and argued that while there may have been no explicit racial distinction in the language of the ordinance, its purpose was clearly to discriminate against African Americans by denying them access to certain public spaces based solely on their race. He further argued that such an act constituted a violation of equal protection under both state and federal laws since it denied individuals basic rights without regard for their race or other characteristics unrelated to merit or qualifications for admission into these areas.