''Blyew v. United States'' (1871), was a court case that originated in Lewis County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, where the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

upheld the states right to forbid African Americans to testify against white people.

History

On August 29, 1868, two white men by the names of John Blyew and George Kennard entered the house of the Foster family, an African American home in Lewis County, Kentucky. The two white men had a female with them, and they were arguing with the Foster family insisting they needed to house the woman. The two white men attacked the family with an axe; four African-Americans died and many were injured, including children. The was a case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court in April 1872 addressing the

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

of African Americans, as well as

states' rights In American political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments rather than the federal government according to the United States Constitution, reflecting especially the enumerated powers of Congress and the ...

issues. The case involved the testimony of African-American victims of the attack.

state law prohibited the testimony of a "Negro" against a white man and barred African Americans from serving on juries. The case was eventually moved to Federal court, where the attackers were convicted. The State of Kentucky then appealed the case to the Supreme Court citing states' rights in defense of its laws prohibiting African Americans from testifying against whites. The case was a test of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Supreme Court ruled that victims were not entitled to protection from the state law because the word "affected" in the law did not apply to victims of crimes who are not defendants in a case. Noah Swayne (the first

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

appointed to the Supreme Court) and

Joseph Bradley Joseph Philo Bradley (March 14, 1813 – January 22, 1892) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1870 to 1892. He was also a member of the Electoral Commission that decided ...

dissented. Civil rights legislation was subsequently modified and comments in the dissent are noted for putting forth a group right to the adequate protection of the law. Justice William Strong wrote that any case involving an African American witness could be brought to a Federal Court if the court had ruled for the victims and upheld the right of African Americans to testify in court.

History

References

Further reading