Ling Sing (dates unknown)
b. Guangdong Province, China
People v. Hall (1854)
Do You Know? George W. Hall was a white man who killed Ling Sing, a Chinese immigrant miner in Nevada County. Three Chinese men testified against Hall in court.
What: An appeal of the murder case argued that testimonies by people of color were not valid in court.
Decision: The California Supreme Court agreed that testimonies from the Chinese community against white individuals should not be accepted.
Today: An 1873 California state law invalidated all testimony laws. Every person regardless of ethinicity can testify in court.
(Drawing by Joyce Bantugan, SFSU 2020)