Taney’s Ghost

Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, Collection of the US Supreme Court. Artist: George P.A. Healy, Screenshot image courtesy of oyez.org.

The “Twaney Court:” a 2024 US Supreme Court is likened to the 1850’s Taney Court, channeling pre-Civil War America.

Few periods in United States history have the Supreme Court been divided by as many as 5 votes, on most issues, assuring one side dominance over the other. One of the 7–2 margins occurred during the pre-civil war 1850’s when Judge Roger B. Taney assumed the mantle of Chief Justice. (1)