The court allowed the emotional distress claim but kept ownership with Harvard

Evidence

It was a two-part ruling that basically granted me a day in court to sue Harvard for extreme, outrageous, reckless, and negligent infliction of emotional distress for the treatment of Renty and Delia and for the treatment of me. But Harvard gets to keep the daguerreotypes. — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 1320

Categorization

• QUESTION: This split outcome is the doctrinal crux: emotional distress for the living descendant is cognizable, but property rights in the image remain with Harvard. Worth verifying the exact legal reasoning for the property half.
• DEEPTHINKING: The law can recognize harm to a descendant’s feelings while denying her the thing itself — property as the afterlife of slavery operates precisely at this seam.