The Scott family’s case for freedom was open and shut based on both legal precedent and congressional action, and the only way to deny that was sheer corruption by the state courts even before the case got to Taney.
The Missouri Supreme Court blatantly acknowledged that it was disregarding its own precedents in denying Scott freedom. James Buchanan and a host of southern congressmen had wildly inappropriate ex parte contact with the Supreme Court justices to get the outcome they wanted.
