Scott V. Stanford Case Study

Dred Scott v. Stanford is a case in which an African-American man sued for his freedom. In 1833, Dr. John Emerson purchased a slave. He moved to the Wisconsin Territory with Dred Scott, his slave. Slavery was banned there due to the Missouri Compromise. Because Emerson was in the army, he would go away for long periods of time, and Scott would get small paying jobs while Emerson was away. In 1843 Dr. Emerson passed away, and left Dred Scott, Scott’s wife, and their children to his wife, Eliza Irene Sanford. In 1846, Dred Scott attempted to use the money he had earned over the years to buy his family’s freedom from Sanford, but she would not accept the offer. When Dred Scott was refused his freedom, he decided to sue Sanford for his freedom in a state court. His argument was that he was legally free because he had been living in a territory were slavery had been outlawed. In 1850, Scott was declared free, but Eliza Sanford did not want to deal with the case, so she left the Scott family to her brother, John Sanford, to deal with her affairs. During the time of the case, Scott’s wages were being withheld, and he was owed money from Mr. Sanford. He was not willing to pay Dred Scott his money, so he appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court overruled the state court’s decision, ruling in favor of Sanford.
The ultimate ruling is often referred to as the Dred Scott Decision. The Supreme Court had ruled that although people of African American descent may be free, they are not American citizens. They also ruled that slavery could not be banned in United States territories by Congress. Lastly, because slaves were considered possessions, slave-owners were protected under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. This de...

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...urt ordered the university to stop enforcing its quota system, but the university appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court reviewed this case in 1978.
The Court ruled that the use of racial quotas in its admissions process is unconstitutional. Although the Supreme Court ruled that racial quotas were unconstitutional, in certain cases, more minority applicants could be accepted constitutionally. It was a five to four decision written by Justice Lewis Franklin Powell. Race can be looked upon in order to ensure educational diversity, but other admissions factors must be considered. For example, someone who is a minority cannot be accepted if they do not meet the academic qualifications. For this specific case, the medical school’s process did violate equal protection. The Equal Protection Clause forbids a state from denying anyone equal protection of the law.