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Civil Rights

Mar. 17, 2007

Shackling History

Forum Column - By Allan Ides - In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court used a specious "original intent" analysis to justify the permanent disenfranchisement of blacks. The Dred Scott decision highlights why judges should refrain from using history to justify unjust rulings.

FORUM COLUMN

By Allan Ides
     
      In Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (How.) 393 (1857), Chief Justice Roger B. Taney sounded a familiar tone when he ruled that "[i]t is not the province of the court to decide upon the justice or injustice" of laws. Rather, the court's duty is to interpret the Constitution "according to its true intent and meaning when it was adopted."
   &n...

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