Work crews have moved onto the grounds of the Maryland State House in Annapolis after midnight to remove a statue of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney.
Taney, a Maryland native, wrote the 1857 decision in Dred Scott v Sandford that denied black people US citizenship, and which is said to be the indirect cause of the Civil War.
Washington Post reporter Josh Hicks tweeted a photo of the crew placing straps around the statue around 1am on Friday.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, this week reversed his opposition to removing the Taney statue and other monuments, citing the violent clashes between white nationalists and antifa in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.
Washington Post reporter Josh Hicks tweeted a photo of the crew placing straps around the statue around 1am on Friday
The sudden decision came with no public hearings, drawing some backlash from lawmakers.
In a letter to the governor, Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr, a Democrat, defended Taney’s legacy and said the memorial should remain to help educate people about history.
The letter noted that ‘unlike George Washington who freed his slaves upon his death, Taney freed his slaves early in his life,’ crediting the former chief justice for his ‘anti-slavery words and actions’.
Taney, however, wrote the decision in Dred Scott, which held that black people whose ancestors were slaves were not eligible for US citizenship, and had no standing in the federal courts.
His seven-to-two majority opinion cited legislation and writings from the founding of the republic, including the Declaration of Independence, which Taney said showed that the framers of the Constitution did not consider slaves or their descendants ‘as a part of the people’.
The decision was superseded by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, but not before the Civil War rent the nation in two over the question of slavery.
Taney, a Maryland native, wrote the 1857 decision in Dred Scott v Sandford that denied black people US citizenship, and which is said to be the indirect cause of the Civil War