- Dred Scott v. Sandford
-
n.An 1857 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled that no black person could be a citizen of the United States, that all slaves were the property of their owners and not citizens who could bring lawsuits themselves, and that the government could not revoke a slave owner’s right to own slaves based on where he or she lived, invalidating the Missouri Compromise, which had tried to ban slavery in part of the Louisiana territory.
The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008.
- Dred Scott v. Sandford
-
(1857)The U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, were not citizens of the United States and therefore did not have the right to sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that the federal government could not prohibit slavery in the territories. The decision was a prime factor leading to the Civil War, but was eventually rendered moot by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — which provides that anyone born or naturalized in the United States is a citizen of the nation and of his or her state.Full text: Dred Scott v. Sandford (Nolo)Category: Small Claims Court & Lawsuits
Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. Gerald N. Hill, Kathleen Thompson Hill. 2009.
