State v. Mann

The first  Moot court groups argued the State vs Mann case, where a slave trying to flee her master was shot in the back and severely injured. The two sides made very strong cases as State was up first. State's opening argument was that slavery as a whole was unconstitutional and that Mann was not only a murderer but did not have the right to treat his property in the way that he did. Unfortunately for them, slavery is not directly denounced by the constitution, the slave did not die, and according State argued that this went against the party’s religious beliefs as well as arguing not that slavery should be abolished, as it was legal in North Carolina at the time, but that slaves are human and should be treated as such. Mann on the other hand argued that the slave was property therefore he had the right to do whatever he wanted with her and that he should not have to pay the fine. In the final ruling, Supreme Judge Thomas Ruffin stated that while personally he ruled in favor of Lydia he had to remain impartial to the law and therefore ruled in favor of Mann from the lawful standpoint, and the fine was overruled.