Obsessive Behavior Going Nowhere Fast

Oh, boy. For five days I have gone missing making my reports. I got lost in my article on Indiana's 1851 Constitution. Sunday, I went to church and then spent the remainder of the day researching and writing (well, I did take a nap and I did eat), even when I needed to get laundry done. Monday, I went to work and came home to do more reading and research, but still no laundry. Although I did learn that I was to have another story published, I was too caught up in 1871 and anti-miscegenation laws.

In State Gibson, 36 Ind. 389, 10 Am.Rep. 42, a statute prohibiting the intermarriage of negroes and white persons was held not to violate any provision of the Fourteenth Amendment or the Civil Rights laws. In the course of a well-reasoned and well-supported 84*84 discussion of the powers retained by and inherent in the States under the Constitution, the court said:

"* * * In this State marriage is treated as a civil contract, but it is more than a mere civil contract. It is a public institution established by God himself, is recognized in all Christian and civilized nations, and is essential to the peace, happiness, and well-being of society. * * * The right, in the states, to regulate and control, to guard, protect, and preserve this God-given, civilizing, and Christianizing institution is of inestimable importance, and cannot be surrendered, nor can the states suffer or permit any interference therewith. If the federal government can determine who may marry in a state, there is no limit to its power. * * *." 36 Ind. at 402-3.

It was said in that case that the question was one of difference between the races, not of superiority or inferiority, and that the natural law which forbids their intermarriage and the social amalgamation which leads to a corruption of races is as clearly divine as that which imparted to them different natures.

 State v. Gibson, 36 Ind. 389, 405 (1871) (requiring separation of the races "`is not prejudice, nor caste, nor injustice of any kind, but simply to suffer men to follow the law of races established by the Creator himself, and not to compel them to intermix contrary to their instincts'" (quoting W. 410

*410 Chester & Phila. R.R. Co. v. Miles, 55 Pa. 209, 214 (1867)))

From Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 US 537 - Supreme Court 1896:

Laws forbidding the intermarriage of the two races may be said in a technical sense to interfere with the freedom of contract, and yet have been universally recognized as within the police power of the State. State v. Gibson, 36 Indiana, 389.

That is Indiana's history.

But on Tuesday, I did get the laundry done, and I talked to K and to KH.

I need to get my hair cut.

Besides the legal research, I did manage to read some other items these past few days.

 'Major' Archaeological Development May Help Rewrite Early Human History

Indiana serial killer made concerning purchase before burying 10,000 pieces of remains at home: family friend

A Reckoning for Fake Elector Masterminds in Wisconsin (We need more of this.)

Black Bears in Indiana: A Rare Sight, But On the Rise

What If Reconstruction Didn’t End Till 1920?

Sinha has produced a remarkable book that deserves to be widely read, but also to be argued with. This is not least because she knows how much the history of Reconstruction and its overthrow can teach us about the present. But one wonders whether the lessons imparted by The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic are the ones we most urgently need. Reconstruction was a bold experiment in interracial democracy, but in order to understand why it ultimately failed, we need to understand not only the opposition to it but also the missteps of those who were trying to advance it.

Okay, that last one is kind of related to my research.

I was late to work because I just needed to do these edits I had in mind when I was trying to get to sleep Tuesday night,

The haircut needed and planned for last night did not happen. I cannot escape the siren's song! Which was how I missed the #2 bus at 3 and at 4 pm. I did get some grocery shopping done.

CC came over last evening. She stayed about an hour or so. Her housemate is stealing from her again, so I am having her store her stuff here. She sorted stuff out of her, we talked, and she went on her way. I went back to my article. Of course, I stayed up later than planned. Oh, yeah, she also heard whatever was scurrying up the ceiling.

I put a chart into the article - not the usual thing for a law review article. One footnote took over an hour to get mostly set up.

Well, it is going on 5 am. I want to do a few things with the article and get the slower cooker set up. CC wants to go to the Water Bowl today. I hope it happens. It is the first thing she has wanted to do besides her rummage and running around town.

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