Blyew v. United States

Blyew v. United States was a case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court in April 1872 addressing the civil rights of African Americans, as well as states' rights issues. The case involved the testimony of a dying man who identified his attackers and the testimony of other African American victims of an attack with an axe. Kentucky state law prohibited the testimony of a "Negro" against a white man and barred African Americans from serving on juries. After the attackers were convicted in Federal court, the State of Kentucky appealed the case to the Supreme Court citing States Rights in defense of its laws prohibitting 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 word "affected" in the law did not apply to victims of crimes who are not defendants in a case.[1] Noah Swayne (the first Republican appointed to the Supreme Court) and Joseph Bradley dissented.[2] The 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.[3] 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.[4]