A bronze statue of Roger Brooke Taney, the Supreme Court chief justice who wrote the Dred Scott decision, has sat outside the Maryland State House since 1872, its eyes gazing down in judgment at visitors.

But General Assembly Democrats say it’s now judgment day for Taney, declaring it’s time for the Maryland native whose 1857 ruling upheld slavery to be expunged from the state’s pantheon.

“Justice Roger Taney represents a period of time and an ideology that black people are not human beings, not fully human,” said Delegate Jill P. Carter, the Baltimore Democrat who introduced a bill to pull down the statue and have it destroyed.

It’s the latest effort to rid Maryland’s public spaces of memorials dedicated to those who played a role in defending slavery or enforcing discrimination against blacks. It also comes amid a national debate over public displays of Confederate symbols, which are viewed by some as historic markers of heritage but by others as offensive relics of racism.

Roger Taney statue at Maryland State House emerges as latest Confederate cleansing target - Washington Times