Slave Reparations Plaintiffs Win Minor Victory

CHICAGO — A federal appeals court yesterday rejected most claims by slave descendants that they deserve reparations from some of the nation's biggest companies. The panel affirmed a lower court ruling that slave descendants have no standing to sue for reparations based on injustices suffered by their ancestors and that the statute of limitations ran out more than a century ago.

But the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did keep alive a slender portion of the suit, claiming that major American corporations may be guilty of consumer fraud if they hid past ties to slavery from their customers.

The 17-page opinion written by Judge Richard Posner said that if descendants could collect damages for wrongs against their ancestors "statutes of limitations would be toothless."

In allowing the consumer-protection claims, the appeals court said a seller who, fearing the loss of buyers who would object to some component in his product, "falsely represents that the product does not contain the component is guilty of fraud."