A Final “Jeopardy!” question about an 1857 Supreme Court decision proved to be to be too much for Bethesda’s Lanier Heyburn.
Heyburn, a 29-year-old neuroscientist at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, according to her LinkedIn profile, competed on the game show shown Christmas night, finishing in third place.
Heyburn was tied for second with contestant Charbel Barakat heading into the final round, at $9,000 each in winnings, while Richard Koehler had $14,600.
The final question asked the contestants which 1857 decision was referred to by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes as the country’s “first self-inflicted wound.”
Barakat and Koehler correctly answered Dred Scott v. Sandford, which determined that blacks were not American citizens, could not sue in federal court and that slavery was legal. Heyburn incorrectly guessed the case Plessy v. Ferguson — an 1896 ruling that established the principle of “separate but equal.”
Koehler emerged victorious, finishing with $18,001 to Barakat’s $18,000 and Heyburn’s $6,700. As the third-place finisher, Heyburn was awarded $1,000 as a consolation prize.
During the break, contestants shared their honeymoon stories with host Alex Trebek. Heyburn told Trebek she went snorkeling in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, but became entangled with a jellyfish five minutes into her underwater expedition. She had to be rescued by boat.
Heyburn recapped the incident lightheartedly.
“I will never forget it. That’s for sure,” she said of the honeymoon.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
