Despite the doctrine of "partus sequitur ventrum" incorporated into state law, by which children followed the legal status of their mother at the time of birth, Miller was not successful in her attempt to gain freedom from slavery for her three surviving children. In a case settled in her favor by the judge, she won a case in which her former master John Fitz Miller tried to clear his name by proving that she was part-black and had been born into slavery in "Miller v. Miller" (1849 La). His appeal to the State Supreme Court was dismissed. Her identity remains controversial.