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Civil Procedure Keyed to Babcock
Hansberry v. Lee
Citation:
311 U.S. 32 (1940)
ProfessorBrittany L. Raposa
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
A group of white landowners in Chicago signed a restrictive covenant to keep Black people from living on the land. To be effective, 95% of owners would need to sign it, but only about 54% did. However, in an earlier class action suit, regarding the covenant, Burke, it was stated that 95% of the owners had signed. Plaintiff Lee on behalf of herself and others brought suit against Defendant Hansberry and other Black people to enjoin them from breach of covenant because they acquired land with knowledge of the restrictive covenant. The Plaintiffs argued that the percentage of owners that had signed was already determined in Burke and should be given res judicata effect. Defendant argued res judicata should not apply because they were not parties to Burke and that to allow res judicata would violate their Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. The trial court ruled that Defendants were bound by Burke and the Supreme court of Illinois affirmed. Defendants petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States for certiorari.
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