Most of slavery reparations suit thrown out

If the descendants could collect damages for wrongs against their ancestors ''statutes of limitations would be toothless,'' the panel said.

''A person whose ancestor had been wronged a thousand years ago could sue on the ground that it was a continuing wrong and he is one of the victims,'' the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.

The 17-page decision, written by Judge Richard A. Posner for the three-judge panel, said statutes of limitations could be extended, but not for acts committed a century ago.

The panel also said the descendants lacked standing to file suit because their links to the slaves were distant.

It said the ''causal chain is too long and has too many weak links for a court to be able to find that the defendants' conduct harmed the plaintiffs at all, let alone in an amount that could be estimated without the wildest speculation.''

The lawsuit was a consolidation of 10 suits filed around the country and moved to Chicago.

Slave descendants claim that big American corporations profited from slavery and should pay.

AP