State V Mann

    In the 1829 North Carolina court case, State V Mann; Elizabeth Jones owned a slave named Lydia who she then rented out to John Mann. Lydia was unhappy about the arrangement and Mann was aware of this. Lydia was attempting to escape and John Mann shot her in the back. Mann was charged 10 dollars for his crime and he then appealed this saying it was against his constitutional rights and he had done nothing wrong.
    A few points made on the side of Mann which was argued by my teach were focused on facts of the law while the opposing argument was based off of moral and religious stand points.
   We argued many important points such as during ownership the master is not liable to an indictment for a battery committed on a slave. Also, It is criminal in court to avoid any responsibilities in which the laws impose. Meaning, a judge can not impose his opinion on a matter presented in court. Technically slavery in the state of North Carolina is legal and being that slaves are considered property by law Mr. Mann was not at fault. The appeals court found that the district court made a mistake and the judge had made an unlawful decision.
    On the opposing argument I do have to admit that their moral points were very moving. Derwin argued that a human being is not property as a pen is property. They also argued that when you go into court you swear on a bible, bringing religious arguments up.