ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The family of the chief justice who presided over the Supreme Court 160 years ago apologized to the family of a slave who tried to sue for his freedom.
Charley Taney on Monday apologized for the words written by his great-great-grand-uncle Roger Brooke Taney in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision. Roger Taney wrote that African Americans could not have rights of their own and were inferior to white people.
Charley Taney stood outside the Maryland State House on Monday and apologized to Lynne Jackson, the great-great-granddaughter of Dred Scott, whose lawsuit prompted the decision.
Jackson accepted the apology for her family and for “all African Americans.”
Monday marked the 160-year anniversary of the decision. The apology took place in front of a statue of Roger Brooke Taney.
- Posted March 08, 2017
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Supreme Court justice family apologizes to family of slave

headlines Macomb
headlines National
- Helping Hand: Swapna Reddy is helping asylum-seekers navigate the immigration system
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- Citing ‘anti-democratic takeover’ by ‘activist’ plaintiffs, Trump seeks money bond for injunction requests
- Law prof suspended over exam question, class discussion can sue for First Amendment retaliation, 7th Circuit says
- On-campus recruiting for summer associates falls in popularity as law firms ‘jockey for positions’
- Former lawyer gets prison time after posing as BigLaw alum, former football player in quest for jobs