Three Hundred FiftySeventh in the Famous People (FP) Series - Jane Roe
In 1970, attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington filed suit in a U.S. District Court in Texas on behalf of Norma L. McCorvey ("Jane Roe"). McCorvey claimed her pregnancy was the result of rape. The defendant in the case was Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade, representing the State of Texas.
The district court ruled in McCorvey's favor on the merits, but declined to grant an injunction against the enforcement of the laws barring abortion. Roe v. Wade ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court on appeal. The court issued its decision on January 22, 1973, with a 7 to 2 majority vote in favor of McCorvey. According to the Roe decision, most laws against abortion in the United States violated a constitutional right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Here in the Sardis Cemetery, you will find markers for members of a Roe family. And here, another controversy arises. Notice the markers for Allen Roe. His military marker lists his birthdate as the same as mine, January 16th. Except I wasn't born in 1845. However, his headstone lists his birthdate as December 16, 1845. Now you could almost accept a discrepancy 1 month apart, but this one is 11 months difference. Did he tell the military a different date in order to enlist? Maybe, but then we also have a discrepancy on the date of death. Headstone lists January 22, 1935 and the military marker lists it as January 21, 1935.
Either way, you are right there by this very visible matchstick holder. We put some decoration on it to make it feel a little special. Access hours are posted as sunup to sundown.
Avoid the use of acronym only logs and cut 'n paste logs. You must sign the log to claim the find. No exceptions, no excuses. Blank logs may be deleted without notice.