In this episode of the Freedom Trials series, Judge Stephen J. Sfekas returns to St. Louis to tell the story of Polly Berry and her daughter Lucy Ann Berry, later known as Lucy Delaney. Polly Berry, an enslaved woman who had once lived in a free state, won her own freedom in court in 1843. She then took the extraordinary step of suing for the freedom of her daughter. The case would become one of the most powerful examples of how enslaved people used the courts to challenge slavery.

Judge Sfekas explains the risks of freedom suits and why enslaved people often hesitated to bring them. Filing a lawsuit could provoke retaliation from an owner, including sale to the Deep South or separation from family. The episode also explores how these cases were financed, how courts sometimes protected enslaved plaintiffs during litigation, and why cities s ...