A stern judge presides as reparations fight begins

Boston Globe, MA ^ | 8/24/2003 | Lori Rotenberk

[schaketo]

CHICAGO -- The next chapter in the legal battle for slave reparations is unfolding away from the spotlight, on the 24th floor of a federal building downtown under the guidance of a veteran judge known as "No Nonsense Norgle."

Lawsuits brought by a dozen plaintiffs in six states alleging that 19 blue-chip businesses benefited from slave labor in the 19th century have been consolidated for a single trial before US District Judge Charles Norgle.

[King Prout]

ex post facto punishment is prohibitted by the Constitution, is it not?

U.S. Constitution
Section 9
"3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed."

[thatdewd]

If they win, I wonder if the judge will deduct averaged housing, clothing, feeding, and medical care costs out of it, not to mention compensation for the loss of "property", and order it payed to the descendants of slaveowners. These guys better be careful, winning might put them in the hole...

[xrp]

"The plaintiffs include a 72-year-old Chicago nurse who is the daughter of slaves"...

That phrase is biased in incorrect. The way it is worded makes it sound like she was born when her parent(s) was(were) still slaves. Appropriate wording would be "the daughter of former slaves"

I bet if I dig long and hard enough, I would be able to go back in time to a place in history where one of my ancestors was enslaved or genocided. I wonder who I can file a lawsuit against. I'm half English (I think...don't really care, I'm 100% humanoid American) so maybe I could file lawsuits against Norwegian-Americans for the Viking raids on England 1000 years ago. It sure is causing me grief and holding me back.

[xrp]

It would be pretty funny if the judge in this case asked the plaintiff/prosecution to produce a witness who was held as a slave when slavery was not outlawed.

[Randjuke]

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis

ROFL! Having personally watched those Labor Day Telethons I believe I am entitled to reparations.

[verity]

If this were a Hollywood production, the nefarious "them" would be putting out contracts on the plaintifs and their lawyers. Alas, it is not!

[sauropod]

"Courtroom observers have included people wearing the uniform of the Black Panthers and T-shirts bearing "REPARATIONS" across the front and back."

That's all i need to know. I want reparations for my ancestors that were killed in the Civil War. The Black Panthers can kiss my a**!

[hillyes]

You people have to go to fredoneverything and scroll to his opinion on reparations! He has it nailed down!

[First Amendment]

And try not to listen to Rush Limbaugh too much. He already has enough bad things to say about you.

I'm curious about what this might mean? (I understood the rest of what you said, and basically forgive and forget) Holding grudges poisons the heart.

Especially if they are grudges about what somebody else did to my ancestors.

[JSteff]

"Many companies have insurance policies on their employees (that pay the company in case of death), so why does it matter if slaves were insured?"

There are several critical points that surround this. First, as said, many companies and businesses insure key employees.
Second, businesses DO NOT treat important, insured capital equipment... badly. In fact, most insurance companies place restictions on how insured items must be treated to MAXIMIZE the CARE and LONGEVITY of the insured item(s) / personel. On a personal level think.. do you abuse your vehicle.. or do you try to maximize the longevity of the vehicle?
Third, the slaves were an important part of the business and lives of the owners. Why would someone spend considerable amount (for the period) so you can torture and abuse the person ... thereby shortening the effective age and use of that person? Remember... if you look at the bills of sale from those days these slaves were bringing $200 to $1000 and more! This at a time where the yearly earnings of the average free person was probably in the range of $200 to $300 per year.

Do I think slavery was bad? Yes.
Do I think some were treated badly? Probably.
But none of the claims makes sense when you consider the money aspect. Businesses DO NOT ABUSE CAPITAL EQUIPMENT because that shortens the life and usability of the equipment. The same would be true with the slaves. The longer they were healthy and working the longer they generated revenue... simple $ and sense.

The insurance show that the business cared about the slaves productivity and I am sure those insurance policies probably spelled out and even compelled the care (to some extent) of those items of capital equipment. Aetna would not insure a demolition derby car and does specify that deliberatw damage and failure due to improper maintanance is also excluded from coverage. I am sure it was the same at that time.

Slavery was wrong, but this reparations thing is also wrong on a number of fronts.

[thegreatbeast]

"I don't want any blood money. Loser pays would work wonders here."

I know what you mean but (as you know) you aren't in any danger of getting any money.

[kcar]

As an American individualist, I would never consider so much as an apology, let alone compensation, to anyone on Earth, unless it could be shown to me that my actions resulted in the intentional (0% possibility) or unintended injury of another. And then it would be directed to that individual or his heirs, and be commensurate to that injury.

I would NEVER apologize because I looked like someone with the same colored skin as someone who injured someone who looks likes someone else (with the same colored skin as the victim) who lived a very very long time ago.

[thegreatbeast]

No, there is no statute of limitations for murder.

[Cyclops08]

Hmmm. I'm Anglo Saxon. Can I sue Itally for the conquest of Briton and the slavery my people went thru hundreds of years ago? I'll never be the same. I'm a great great great great great great great great granson of slaves, and I STILL feel oppressed. Darn Romans!

[PBRSTREETGANG]

If Judge Norgle hasn't already thrown this lawsuit, the plaintiffs who brought it, and their attorneys down the tewnty-four flights of stairs, then he isn't nearly stern enough.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

The contemporary reparations movement began in 2000 when Aetna Inc., of Hartford, issued an apology after a student at the New England School of Law uncovered the company's history of insuring the lives of slaves.

The student, Deedria Farmer-Paellman, now a New York City lawyer and one of the plaintiffs represented by Sammons, became a lawyer to help African-Americans find a way to seek reparations. Her method has been to search historic documents for evidence linking modern corporations to slavery.

Wow, Deedria is quite impressive. While a student, she found a new way for lawyers to fleece the system, and now she's attempting to parlay it into a cottage industry as both lawyer and client.

[dwd1]

I guess it is my way of advising people not to get too much into Rush Limbaugh and remember that he is a commentator and not a journalist. I do tire of him taking every opportunity to think the worst of others. Some things he says, I can be fair and grant him what he is saying, but many times, I get offended with his tendency to take the members of the black community who exhibit the worst behavior and attribute that to all of us. Just my humble opinion...

[dwd1]

You don't enjoy having a guilt card dealt to you for an entire weekend... :-) Oh....Shame...Shame... Shame...!!! :-)