Dissenting Opinions And Reactions
Justice McLeanThe next day, Justices McLean and Curtis read their dissenting opinions, both of which ruled in favor of Scott. They immediately released the text of their decisions for publication in print, but Taney withheld his for revising until late May; the only record the public had of the majority opinion was a short Associated Press article. This gave the Republicans a decided advantage over the Democrats in the "war of words," because the Republicans had the full text of the two pro-Scott dissents, while the Democrats had to rely on simply a paragraph not even written by one of the Court's justices. [18] The "Republican assault" began as early as March 7, the day after Taney read the majority opinion, when the New York Tribune pronounced that "The decision, we need hardly say, is entitled to just as much moral weight as would be the judgment of a majority of those congregated in any Washington bar-room." The Chicago Tribune added on March 12:
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/essays/1801-1900/a-hard-shove-for-a-nation-on-the-brink/dissenting-opinions-and-reactions.php
