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Today in Supreme Court History: December 1

  • Dec 1, 2025
  • 1 min read

Moore v. Illinois, 55 U.S. 13 (decided December 1, 1852): upholding Illinois statute criminalizing hiding an out-of-state slave (not preempted by Const. art. IV, §2, which speaks only of delivery to owner upon demand)


McAfee v. Crofford, 54 U.S. 447 (decided December 1, 1851): recovery in trespass (invading property and carrying off slaves) includes consequential damages such as property lost due to not having slaves to watch over things (logs allowed to float away on river, invading cattle destroying corn crop) and also punitive damages


Clay v. Field, 138 U.S. 464 (decided December 1, 1891): complicated case involving the valuation of a plantation before, during, and after the Civil War, counting in the value added by being worked by slaves (pre-manumission) but not the value of the slaves themselves

 
 
 

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