After Plessy lost at the U.S. Supreme Court, he had to return to Criminal Court to face the original charge. The location of the courthouse had changed; it was now at Tulane and South Saratoga. The country has changed as well. On January 11, 1897, Homer Plessy returned to Section A, now with Judge Joshua Baker in charge. Plessy was accompanied by his attorney, James C. Walker, and the Comité des Citoyens treasurer Paul Bonseigneur.
In court, Plessy withdrew his plea of not guilty, and entered a plea of guilty. Judge Baker pronounced a sentence of a 25 dollar fine or imprisonment for 20 days. They paid the fine and left the building. The very next July, James Walker died.
Over the next several years, even more setbacks occurred. The 1898 Constitutional Convention destroyed black suffrage. In 1902, the city streetcars were segregated. In 1908, even water fountains were segregated.
The Comité des Citoyens once considered hiring Thomas J. Semmes to represent Plessy in the challenge to the Separate Car Act, but his requested fee was too high. Six years later, at the 1898 Constitutional Convention held in New Orleans, he became the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. On Thursday, May 12, Semmes rose to address the Convention, and stated during his speech, "We met here to establish the supremacy of the white race."
