Top 4 Quotes & Sayings by Roger Brooke Taney

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American judge Roger Brooke Taney.

Last updated on November 21, 2024.

Roger Brooke Taney was the fifth chief justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. He delivered the majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), ruling that African Americans could not be considered U.S. citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the U.S. territories. Prior to joining the U.S. Supreme Court, Taney served as the U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President Andrew Jackson. He was the first Catholic to serve on the Supreme Court.

American - Judge | March 17, 1777 - October 12, 1864

Source: Wikipedia

They [the blacks] had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.

Roger Brooke Taney

The question before us is, whether people of African ancestry compose a portion of this people, and are constituent members of this sovereignty? We think they are not, and that they are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.

Roger Brooke Taney

No doctrine involving more pernicious consequences was ever invented by the wit of man than any [constitutional] provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government.

Roger Brooke Taney

We must look at the institution of slavery as publicists, and not as casuists. It is a question of law, and not a case of conscience.

Roger Brooke Taney