Dred Scott Case, the /ˌdred ˈskɒt ˌkeɪs $ -ˈskɑːt-/ (also the ˌDred ˈScott Deˌcision)
an important decision made by the US Supreme Court in 1857 against a man called Dred Scott. Scott was a slave who wanted a court to decide that he should be a free man because his owner had taken him to live in states where slavery was illegal. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court decided, however, that because Scott was black he could never become a citizen of the US and so he did not have the right to begin a legal case. The Chief Justice also stated that Congress must not prevent any state from having slavery.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲