US laws created during slavery are still on the books. A legal scholar wants to at least acknowledge that history in legal citations

Laws enacted during the U.S. slavery era are still being used by lawyers and judges in today's courtrooms. Getty Images

As the story of Juneteenth is told by modern-day historians, enslaved Black people were freed by laws, not combat.

Union Gen. Gordon Granger said as much when he read General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Texas, in front of enslaved people who were among the last to learn of their legal freedom.