After 150 Years, Worst Supreme Court Decision Ever Continues to Haunt

Afro-American, March 9, 2007

2 Pages Posted: 20 Nov 2008

Date Written: March 7, 2007

Abstract

In 1857, the Supreme Court rendered a decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, declaring that it had no jurisdiction to hear Dred Scott's claim to freedom because he was black and, therefore, not a citizen of the United States. This article argues that not only was the decision morally reprehensible, it was also based on an erroneous interpretation of the Constitution.

Keywords: Supreme Court, slavery, racism, citizenship, constitutional law

JEL Classification: K11, K39

Suggested Citation

Higginbotham, F. Michael, After 150 Years, Worst Supreme Court Decision Ever Continues to Haunt (March 7, 2007). Afro-American, March 9, 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1294762

F. Michael Higginbotham (Contact Author)

University of Baltimore - School of Law ( email )

1420 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
91
Abstract Views
924
Rank
561,963
PlumX Metrics