LAD/Blog #19: The Dred Scott Decision
In the landmark ruling on 1857, the Supreme Court ruled at 7-2, that Dredd Scott couldn't sue for his own freedom. The reason for this conclusion was that he wasn't an American Citizen because he was African American, and thus had no rights. Dredd Scott sued after the state in which he resided went from slave to free. It went through multiple levels of court, until it finally reached the Supreme Court. There the Chief Justice, Robert Taney ruled that the lawsuit brought forth should never have been entertained in the first place, because Scott was not a US citizen. This has been highly criticized as a misinterpretation of the constitution because Taney had a conflict of interest due to his ownership of slaves. This was a landmark decision that was revered in the South but despised in the North. This was just before the civil war, and had a major role in the war.
Marbury V Madison |
This case was very similar to Marbury Vs Madison in that both cases were very high level supreme court cases in which the rulings made a big impact on how the country was run.
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