
The National Era· Jun 18, 1857
Judge Taney’s Dred Scott decision continues to be used by the colored people in a way that the Judge did not probably contemplate. The Bangor Whig says :
“David Sands vs. William I.. Barronett, action of debt for $20, balance of account. The defendant being of ‘African descent,’ and ‘having no rightaswhich white men are bound to respect,’ put in a special plea, that, under the late decision of the U.S. Supreme Court by Judge Taney, he is not a citizen of the United States, and therefore cannot sue in any court, nor be sued. The learned counsellor for the plaintiff, being a hunker of the most hunkerish stripe, immediately upon reading the plea, wilted, and allowed a non suit. It is maliciously said, in groups where politicians do most congregate, that the counsellor had fears for his political standing, if he dared oppose the decision of Judge Taney, which is universally received by the Democratic press as a part of their party creed. The defendant, ‘guilty of a skin not colored like our own,’ departed from the awful presence of Judge Pratt with a smiling face, and humming snatches of
‘The De’il came fiddling through the town.'”

