Born in Elsinborough Township in Salem County, New Jersey on October 13, 1825, John S. Rock was a person with amazing talents. After years of working as a physician, for health reasons he turned to the practice of law and in...more
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1865 at the conclusion of the Civil War, abolished slavery across the United States with one notable exception. According to the amendment, “neither...more
Homer Plessy was seven-eighths White and one-eighth Black — pejoratively referred to as an “octoroon” in the 19th century. Plessy came of age during the age of Reconstruction in New Orleans, when people of color were granted...more
On March 21, 2023, activists in St. James Parish, Louisiana filed an environmental justice lawsuit against their local government, claiming that the Parish’s land use system directed industry into primarily Black communities...more
On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, making June 19 a legal public holiday. Juneteenth is the day that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the...more
It’s rare for a debtor in bankruptcy to raise allegations of involuntary servitude and a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment. But one debtor did just that after a chapter 11 trustee was appointed to take over the debtor’s...more
In a recent case, a seventh grade boy was written up by his teacher because she saw him selling candy in class. The student told an assistant principal that he had hidden the candy in the bottom of a garbage can, and a later...more
Tattoos, one of the oldest art forms in the world, are all over the legal news in recent years. The news runs the gamut from a tattooist suing a movie studio over replication of Mike Tyson’s facial tattoo in The Hangover II...more
Labor Day is upon us. It is fitting, therefore, to enter the weekend with another case that exemplifies the bizarre world of labor relations. Like the case of the human resource manager who turned on his employer, or the...more