SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Legislation to remove a bust of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney from the Old Supreme Court Chamber passed this week. It also paves the way for a new bust of Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall to be added to the Capitol Complex.
Taney served as chief justice for nearly three decades until his death in 1864 and is known for supporting slavery. Marshall was the first Black Supreme Court justice appointed to the court in 1967.
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According to Oyez, Taney’s most infamous decision was the Dred Scott v.
Sanford opinion, which states that “enslaved people were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from the federal government or the courts,” per the National Archives.
Dred Scott v. Sandford was eventually overturned with the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and this “renders a bust of his likeness unsuitable for the honor of display to the many visitors to the Capitol,” according to Senate Bill 5229.
Taney was unpopular even in his own time, Oyez said. President Abraham Lincoln considered Taney an enemy and the justice challenged the president’s authority to apply certain emergency measures during the Civil War.
In 2017, a statue of Taney was removed from the Maryland State House, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Marshall was active with the NAACP before he became a justice.
“As a proponent of judicial activism, he believed that the United States had a moral imperative to move progressively forward,” said Oyez of Marshall.
“He staunchly supported upholding individual rights, expanding civil rights, and limiting the scope of criminal punishment.”
He retired from the court in 1991 and passed away in 1993.
“You know, the United States Capitol is a beacon of democracy, freedom and equality, it’s visited by millions of people each year,” said Committee on House Administration Chairperson Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) of the legislation to remove Taney and include Marshall. “What and who we choose to honor in this building should represent our values.”
She added that Taney does not meet this standard.
“Who better to add to the Capitol Complex than Justice Thurgood Marshall? Lofgren asked. “Justice Marshall was a pillar of the Civil Rights Movement and a tireless fighter for justice and equality. From his early days as a litigator fighting to end Jim Crow and school segregation, to his appointment as the first African American United States Supreme Court Justice, Justice Marshall is among the most important figures of American history.”
While Lofgren said she hopes to see more statues and busts of white supremacists removed from the Capitol, she praised the bill as an “opportunity to rid our Capitol of the bust of a man who does not deserve the honor and add one of a man who unquestionably does.”
According to the legislation, Taney’s bust will be removed no later than 45 days after the legislation is enacted. As of Friday, President Joe Biden had not yet signed the bill. Going forward, an agreement to obtain a bust of Marshall should be reached within two years of the act being enacted.
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