On August 12, 2017 the State of Maryland removed the statue of former Chief Justice of the United States Roger Taney, which had stood of the statehouse grounds in Annapolis since 1872. Taney wrote the majority opinion in the 1857 Dred Scott decision, which upheld slavery. Scott was a slave in Missouri who was taken to Illinois, a free state. He sued for his freedom after he was taken back to Missouri. Taney wrote the majority opinion in the 7-2 decision, which declared that black Americans were not citizens.
On June 8th, 2012, the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation, the National Parks Service, and master sculptor Harry Weber unveiled a statue of Dred and Harriet Scott on the south lawn of the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis. The Scotts are depicted standing close, holding their heads high, their eyes directed not only Arch-ward and across the Mississippi River, but toward a horizon of freedom in which they believed enough to one day finally see. A historian at the courthouse told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he hopes the new statue will help people recognize the importance of the Scott court case. “My hope is that when people pass by on the street they say, ‘Well, here are these two courageous people who took this huge step and defied the ruling elite.'”
