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- Title
CALLED TO DUTY: JUSTICE WILLIAM J. GASTON.
- Authors
JACKSON, JUSTICE BARBARA A.
- Abstract
This Article examines the jurisprudence of Justice William J. Gaston (1778-1844), a revered member of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, who is best known for two opinions that furthered the rights of slaves. Previous scholars have written about Justice Gaston's focus on the rights and humanity of slaves, but they have not looked deeply at Justice Gaston's religious ideas and the support those ideas provided to his jurisprudence. Notably, Justice Gaston was Catholic during a time when there were very few Catholics and no cathedral in the state. This Article explores the extent to which Gaston's Catholic faith informed his judicial decision making, as well as what to make of the apparent contradiction between his public position against slavery and his personal slave ownership. As such, this Article uses judicial biography to study in detail the interaction of religious and legal thought in a period of dramatic conflict.
- Subjects
GASTON, William Joseph, 1778-1844; NORTH Carolina. Supreme Court; JURISPRUDENCE; JUDICIAL process; ENSLAVED persons; CIVIL rights
- Publication
North Carolina Law Review, 2016, Vol 94, Issue 6, p2051
- ISSN
0029-2524
- Publication type
Article