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Dred Scott Decision

Dred Scott v. Sandford
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Argued February 11–14, 1856
Reargued December 15–18, 1856
Decided March 6, 1857
Full case name Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sandford
Citations 60 U.S. 393 (more)
19 Howard 393; 15 L. Ed. 691; 1856 WL 8721; 1857 U.S. LEXIS 472
Prior history Judgment for defendant, C.C.D. Mo.
Holding
Judgment reversed and suit dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
  1. Persons of African descent cannot be, nor were ever intended to be, citizens under the U.S. Const. Plaintiff is without standing to file a suit.
  2. The Property Clause is only applicable to lands possessed at the time of ratification (1787). As such, Congress cannot ban slavery in the territories. Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional.
  3. Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment prohibits the federal government from freeing slaves brought into federal territories.
Court membership
Case opinions
Majority Taney, joined by Wayne, Catron, Daniel, Nelson, Grier, Campbell
Concurrence Wayne
Concurrence Catron
Concurrence Daniel
Concurrence Nelson, joined by Grier
Concurrence Grier
Concurrence Campbell
Dissent McLean
Dissent Curtis
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. V; Missouri Compromise
Superseded by
U.S. Const. amends. XIII, XIV

Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857), also known simply as the Dred Scott case, was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on US labor law and constitutional law. It held that "a negro, whose ancestors were imported into [the U.S.], and sold as slaves", whether enslaved or free, could not be an American citizen and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court, and that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States. Dred Scott, an enslaved man of "the negro African race" who had been taken by his owners to free states and territories, attempted to sue for his freedom. In a 7–2 decision written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the court denied Scott's request. The decision was only the second time that the Supreme Court had ruled an Act of Congress to be unconstitutional.

Although Taney hoped that his ruling would finally settle the slavery question, the decision immediately spurred vehement dissent from anti-slavery elements in the North, especially Republicans. Many contemporary lawyers, and most modern legal scholars, consider the ruling regarding slavery in the territories to be dictum, not binding precedent. The decision proved to be an indirect catalyst for the American Civil War. It was functionally superseded by the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1868, which gave African Americans full citizenship.


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