Posted on 01/03/2004 4:13:26 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
CHICAGO (AP) Almost 150 years after Andrew Jackson Hurdle was torn away from his family and put on the auction block as a 9-year-old slave, his daughter is seeking justice for him.
Hannah Hurdle-Toomey, 71, of Belleville, signed on as one of two people from Illinois named in a class-action lawsuit seeking reparations from 19 companies that they say benefited from the slave trade. The other is Marcelle Porter, a 74-year-old Chicago woman who said her great-grandmother was a slave in North Carolina.
A Jan. 26 hearing is scheduled in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Judge Charles Norgle could dismiss the lawsuit if he agrees with the defendants' argument that the plaintiffs can't sue for something that happened to their ancestors.
But if the plaintiffs eventually prevail, they said they will use the money to set up a trust fund to help the black community support social programs, said Lionel Jean-Baptiste, the lawyer representing the two women from Illinois.
``It's not about individuals, it's about a broad community seeking capital to rebuild our community,'' Jean-Baptiste said after a recent meeting with dozens of supporters of the lawsuit. ``We need a Marshall Plan to help our community. This is a collective remedy.''
The lawsuit was first filed in U.S. District Court in New York in 2002 and moved last year to Chicago. The suit names companies like the Lehman Brothers brokerage firm, Aetna Insurance and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco.
Lawyers for the companies named in the lawsuit contend that people do not have the right to sue for something that happened to the plaintiffs' ancestors. They also argue the companies were not directly responsible for the plight of slaves.
``Plaintiffs' grievances are claimed to arise from the fact of their inclusion in a racial group, and are therefore insufficient to overcome the problem that they constitute a `generalized grievance' which does not give them standing to bring this suit,'' the lawyers argued in court papers filed recently.
Hannah Hurdle-Toomey said that even if the lawsuit is dismissed, it will not diminish the life of her father who helped found a religious college. Like her father, Hurdle-Toomey was ordained a Disciples of Christ minister.
``It's that independent streak I inherited from my father nobody controls my mind but me and the Lord,'' she said. ``There's nothing that the judge could do or nothing anybody else can do. ... The what-ifs don't bother me.''
Hurdle, whose life stretched well into the 20th century, had 25 children with two wives; Hurdle-Toomey was his youngest. In a letter collected in a 1978 family book, Hurdle recalled his life.
``I am a self-made man, have never gone to school a day in my life; got what little education I have by studying at night by a pine torch light a great many times,'' Hurdle wrote. ``I was sold off from my parents. . . . I consider that God has blessed me in raising my children.''
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Unless Andrew Jackson Hurdle is 159 years old, he is dead. And under common law, the dead have no legal weight.
Judge Charles Norgle could dismiss the lawsuit if he agrees with the defendants' argument that the plaintiffs can't sue for something that happened to their ancestors.
See above.
But if the plaintiffs eventually prevail, they said they will use the money to set up a trust fund to help the black community support social programs, said Lionel Jean-Baptiste, the lawyer representing the two women from Illinois.
Because Lionel Jean-Baptiste can hardly tell the truth, which is that the plaintiffs will use the money to buy crack cocaine, gamble on the dogs, and piss the money away like people generally DO when they steal it.
``It's not about individuals, it's about a broad community seeking capital to rebuild our community,'' Jean-Baptiste said after a recent meeting with dozens of supporters of the lawsuit. ``We need a Marshall Plan to help our community. This is a collective remedy.''
"This is also a collective way to make myself rich, kind of like the tobacco lawyers did. This class-action crap is a gold mine," she said, rubbing her hands with glee.
Why not try to get the money from the black athletes and entertainers who have made billions through the American system and might want to help out? Because, as Mr. Potter said, "They would run you out of town on a rail."
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Every state has its own common law. Since the plaintiff has filed suit in federal court in Chicago, the judge will apply the law of Illinois, which can attribute any legal weight it likes to the claims of the dead.
Furthermore, it is, generally speaking, possible for people to sue concerning things which had occurred to their deceased relatives. A wife can sue for wrongful death if her husband was killed in an accident. A son can sue as executor of his father's estate to recover money which his father was owed. Etc.
That said, the daughter is going to have to explain what and how, exactly, one of the nineteen defendant companies supposedly did to harm her father, and how exactly Illinois law provides that she could get restitution and/or punitive damages for it.
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