State v. Mann: Slaveholders Exempt from Assault Charges

North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Thomas Ruffin rules in State v. Mann (1829) that a person who hires an enslaved person cannot be criminally charged for beating her, even for unauthorized cruelty. Ruffin writes that slavery requires "uncontrolled authority" over the enslaved. The ruling becomes a cornerstone precedent removing enslaved people from all legal protection against violence.