One Decision Doesn't Make an Entire Legacy: A Defense of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney

Jun 26, 2024

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WEB Justice Roger B. Taney. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress - Religion News Service

Before I start here, I want to make something crystal clear: there will be no defense in this post of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). This is the least defensible part of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s (1777-1864) legacy, it is the worst decision in the history of the Supreme Court, and it was based in historical illiteracy. This is the primary reaso…

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