 White Person Marrying a Negro or Celebrating Such Marriage (1873) |
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This act passed by the Virginia General Assembly punished any white person who intermarried with a Black person with fines and jail time. It also fined the person who conducted the ceremony, with half of the fine going to the informant who reported the marriage to authorities.
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| Williams v. Walker-Thomas Furniture Co. (1965) |
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In this case, a U.S. Court of Appeals decided that a lower court could rule a contract unconscionable and therefore not enforceable. Ora Lee Williams, a resident of an underprivileged Black neighborhood in Washington, D.C., had signed an installment sales contract containing a clause that gave the seller the right to repossess all prior goods purchased under the contract upon missing a payment on the most recent purchase, even if she had already paid enough to cover what was owed. Justice Wright remanded the case back to the lower court with a new definition of unconscionability. This case is an example of abusive credit practices targeting those in poverty in the U.S.
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| Winny v. Phebe Whitesides alias Prewitt (1824) |
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This case was the first freedom suit heard by the Missouri Supreme Court. Winny claimed her freedom on account of being brought into the free territory of what would become Illinois before being removed to Missouri. The court found in favor of her freedom, establishing a "once free, always free" precedent that was eventually overturned by the decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford.
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