John Merryman
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John Merryman of Baltimore County, Maryland, was arrested in May 1861 during the American Civil War for recruiting men to fight for the Confederate States of America.
Oil on canvas attributed to Meredith Janvier, c. 1910-1920
Roger B. Taney
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Roger Brooke Taney was an American lawyer and politician who served as the fifth chief justice of the United States from 1836 until his death in 1864. Taney delivered the majority opinion in Dred Scot
John Merryman
…ensured by the writ of habeas corpus. The case was taken up by the federal circuit court and its current presiding judge who happened to be Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, a Democratic-leaning Marylander. The reading of Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution was in question. Taney believed that the phrase "when…
Portrait by Mathew Brady, 1855–1860
Bureau of Engraving and Printing portrait of Taney as Secretary of the Treasury
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, photograph by Mathew Brady
Taney's grave in Frederick, Maryland