Today in Supreme Court History: September 30, 1857

9/30/1857: Justice Benjamin Robbins Curtis resigns from the Supreme Court after Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857).

Justice Benjamin Robbins Curtis

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

Thus allowing the pro-slavery Buchanan to pick his successor. Good move, Ben.

[Krychek_2]

Captain, I usually agree with you, but not this time. After Dred Scott, one more pro-slavery justice on the Supreme Court wasn't going to change the dynamic by that much. Resigning from the court over Dred Scott at least was a very public declaration that he considered their decision despicable and was no longer willing to be part of the institution.

Not sure I would have done the same thing myself, but I don't think his decision was unreasonable.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Well ok. It was a period of rising hysteria. The South’s numerical influence in Congress was finally waning, one could hardly expect the country to keep electing pro-slavery Northern Presidents, and only in the Supreme Court was the Slave Power still dominant. Curtis probably thought he was acting to delegitimize the Court by resigning.

[Michael D]

I was about to ask if his resignation was a protest of the decision. Based on what you said, that appears to be the case.

[Brett Bellmore]

It's a bit more complicated than that. He did dissent from the opinion, but somebody published his dissent before the case issued, and Taney thought it was deliberate.

He apparently resigned because the resulting bad blood between them made working conditions intolerable.