The Supreme Court and its Power

Today's judicial atmosphere has never been more charged. As the Supreme Court ages and the Senate debates the use of filibusters to stall judicial nominees, it is important to understand the power that Supreme Court Justices wield in their lifetime appointments. There are perhaps no better examples of the Supreme Court's ability to make pernicious decisions than their landmark decisions to institutionalize racism in Dred Scott vs. Sanford and Plessy vs. Ferguson. These decisions, taken together, gave the White majority in the United States the power to marginalize and discriminate against Black Americans. Though they have been overturned, they linger in the consciousness of Black America like a stain that may never be lifted.

Dred Scott was a Black slave who was born in Missouri, a slave state. His master took him out of Missouri to Illinois and Minnesota, which were free states. Eventually he was taken back to Missouri, and when his master passed away Dred Scott sued for his freedom. His case was appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court, which not only ruled against him but made sweeping changes to the American Judicial system which empowered slaveholderr and disenfranchised Blacks. In 1857, the Supreme Court of the United States declared that slavery was legal in Dred Scott v. Sanford, perhaps the most infamous and malicious decision the Supreme Court has ever dictated.

Today, the Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford is universally condemned fo

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