Custodians rename Coast Guard ship named after justice who wrote Dred Scott decision
By John Kruzel - 07/01/20 04:28 PM EDT
A WWII-era Coast Guard ship named after the Supreme Court chief justice who penned the majority opinion in the Dred Scott ruling will be renamed by the groups overseeing the vessel, amid a nationwide reckoning over historic symbols of racial injustice.
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter “Taney†was originally named to honor Roger B. Taney’s service as U.S. Treasury secretary. But Taney’s legacy is defined principally by his majority opinion in the 1857 ruling in Dred Scott v. Sanford, which said slaves were property and African Americans — whether enslaved or free — could not be U.S. citizens.
Now the groups charged with overseeing the Coast Guard vessel, the last surviving warship from the attack on Pearl Harbor, say it’s time for a new name.
https://thehill.com/homenews/news/505501-custodians-rename-coast-guard-ship-named-after-justice-who-wrote-dred-scott
