State v. Mann

During the mock trial of State v. Mann, my group and I were to be audiences of the trial and take notes on the case. The question asked in the case was whether or not Mann's rights were violated by being fined. The background of the case is that Mr. Mann, a slave owner, shot a fleeing slave in the back and he was charged with assault and battery. Eventually for his actions as punishment Mr. Mann was to be fined $10. So are Mr. Mann's rights being violated?

There were three arguments against Mr. Mann made, however I will only present two of them as one was a weak religious argument. The first argument is that shooting Lydia in the back is a cruel and unusual punishment, and it is a crime of assault whether a slave or not. To this argument Mr. Mann's representatives had two counter arguments. The first counter argument presented was that slaves are 3/5 of a person, and Lydia was caught running. They also stated that being caught running is punishable by law therefore, Mr. Mann should not be fined or punished. The second counter argument presented was that Mr. Mann was just protecting Lydia from bounty hunters. Bounty hunters can punish slaves in any way they deem reasonable. They go on to argue that if Mr. Mann did not punish Lydia other slaves would see it as acceptable to make a run. Therefore, he should not be punished for striking her and bringing her back. The second argument presented by the state was the argument that since Mr. Mann was renting Lydia for a year shooting her is damage to someone else's property. The counter argument made was simple and straightforward. As Mr. Mann was renting Lydia for a year, Lydia is technically his property for that year. Therefore, he can do whatever he wants in that year to Lydia which justifies his actions. In my opinion though, I would side with the state simply because I think differently. Growing up in a different time period I see it as whether Mr. Mann shot a citizen or a slave, they are both human. Therefore I believe shooting Lydia is an inhumane act and Mr. Mann should be punished and fined for his actions.