The Dred Scott Case: Chief Justice Roger B. Taney

When the Dred Scott case came before the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney was one of the five justices from states where slavery was legal. These five justices were the majority on the court, and believed that although the Missouri Compromise existed, a slave owner had the right to take his slaves anywhere he wished without fear that someone would remove his property from him. It was their feeling that regardless of the fact that Dred had lived in so called “free states,” he was still his owner’s property.

On March 6, 1857, Justice Taney stated that Dred Scott had no right to bring a law suit in Federal Court, because the Constitution only afforded that right to U.S. citizens. Since Scott was a slave, he was not a citizen. He went