Descendants of Dred Scott and the chief justice who authored the notorious Dred Scott opinion gathered at a church near the Supreme Court last week, speaking publicly about reconciliation at a moment when the nation’s highest court is once again confronting issues of race and who qualifies as an American.
The meeting brought together the great-great-granddaughter of Dred Scott and the great-great-grandnephew of the man who wrote the Dred Scott decision, according to reporting from the event held at St. Mark’s Church on Capitol Hill on June 30, 2026.
Their conversation unfolded against the backdrop of the Supreme Court wrestling with questions that many observers say carry echoes of one of the most condemned rulings in American legal history — a decision widely regarded as a moral and constitutional low point for the country.
The gathering underscores how the legacy of that 167-year-old ruling continues to resonate in modern legal and political debates surrounding race, identity, and the meaning of American citizenship.
