Senate Committee Considers Resolution on "Dred Scott" Decision

This week, the Senate Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions, and Ethics Committee heard SCR 3, sponsored by Senator Steven Roberts (D-St. Louis City), a resolution that would condemn the Missouri Supreme Court decision denying Dred and Harriet Scott their freedom due to their race and status as slaves in 1852. The court ruled that Dred and Harriet Scott did not have a legal right to their freedom, even though they had lived for several years with their owner in the free states of Illinois and Wisconsin before being brought back to Missouri.

The case ultimately went to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the Missouri Supreme Court ruling was affirmed, denying the Scotts their freedom because of Missouri's status as a slave state, and the Scotts African descent. The MCC testified in support of the resolution and hopes that recognizing the error of these court decisions in denying the equal dignity of the Scotts as human beings made in the image and likeness of God will help begin to heal the longstanding wounds from slavery that have plagued Missouri and the U.S.