Federal reparations suits dismissed

[JustRob]

Folks may be interested to hear that the nine Federal lawsuits to recover reparations for slavery were consolidated and dismissed on January 26th. The Federal Court for the Northern District of Illinois delivered the opinion.

The forty page opinion (available at 2004 WL 112646) addresses four primary legal issues. The court determined:

(1) Plaintiffs lacked standing to bring suit;
(2) Actions presented a nonjusticiable political question;
(3) The actions failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted; and
(4) The claims were barred by statute of limitations.

Not that this is a huge surpirse to any of you, but I thought you might be interested.

[DonSmithnotTMD]

Re: Federal reparations suits dismissed

Robert,

Do you have a cite for the case -- might be fun reading.

Don Smith
Local pest

[Company Tailor]

Re: Federal reparations suits dismissed

What a wonderful piece of happy news. Common sense, apparently is not completely dead.

You can be sure this isn't the last we'll hear of it though.

Having an ancestor who was an indentured servant, I wonder if I could have gotten in on this?

Cheers!

[JimKindred]

Re: Federal reparations suits dismissed

I had ancestors on both sides of the Revolutionary War, I wonder if and when the reparations deal for descendants of ex slaves goes through that will open the door for me to sue to have that property in Virginia and North Carolina that was confiscated after the war by the US returned to the family? Hmmmm. :wink_smil

[Spinster]

Re: Federal reparations suits dismissed

Dang-nab-it--here I was hoping to send Darling Daughter to graduate school on the proceeds from her ancestress's misfortune to come over on the second Jamestown wife ship. Sold into marriage to a man of unknown reputation for the price of her passage, and, at 16, under legal age to boot. That should be worth a small fortune

Then again, all my people came over indentured or as Georgia debtors, with the exception of the Hessian soldier who quickly turned coat and runnoft with a local indentured girl. All in servitude, but the original Jamestown fellow who was listed as a "gentleman"--highly unlikely since he took that poor little underaged girl to wife. :wink_smil

[JimKindred]

Re: Federal reparations suits dismissed

I may regret asking but just what year was that?

My folks came over to Jamestown in 1622. :confused_

[Spinster]

Re: Federal reparations suits dismissed

Without the documents at immediate hand, I believe it was 1612--and the girl was 5 years in the grave by the time your folks came over in 1622.

Married at 16, a mother at 17, a widow at 19, remarried at 20, and dead in childbed at 21, she left behind a new baby and a 5 year old boy who was raised by his stepfather, but continued to carry the name of his birth. Its that boy that we trace a line through that takes us back to the Magna Carta, by way of "Longshanks" --after seeing Braveheart, my husband says he knows where my mean and crafty streak comes from. :baring_te