William Scott (June 7, 1804 – 1862) was an American lawyer and judge who served on the

Supreme Court of Missouri The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to gi ...

from 1841 to 1849 and from 1851 to 1862. He also served on the Jefferson City Circuit Court. Justice Scott was the author of the majority opinion in ''Scott v. Emerson'', 15 Missouri 572 (1852), which was part of the ''

Dred Scott v. Sandford ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'', 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, enslaved or free; th ...

'' case. Scott's opinion, which overturned well-established precedent in Missouri, set the stage for Dred Scott's case in the Supreme Court. He wrote:

Times are not now as they were when the former decisions on this subject were made. Since then not only individuals but States have been possessed with a dark and fell spirit in relation to slavery, whose gratification is sought in the pursuit of measures, whose inevitable consequences must be the overthrow and destruction of our government. Under such circumstances it does not behoove the State of Missouri to show the least countenance to any measure which might gratify this spirit. She is willing to assume her full responsibility for the existence of slavery within her limits, nor does she seek to share or divide it with others.

Born in

Fauquier County, Virginia Fauquier is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,972. The county seat is Warrenton. Fauquier County is in Northern Virginia and is a part of the Washington metropolitan area. History In 160 ...

, Scott moved to Missouri in 1827 and became a Circuit Attorney, living in

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

. He took

Mathias McGirk Mathias McGirk (1790–1842) of Montgomery County, Missouri, was a justice of the Missouri Supreme Court from 1821 to 1841. Born in Tennessee, McGirk studied law there before moving to St. Louis around 1814. he served in the Territorial Missouri ...

's spot on the state supreme court in 1841 when McGirk resigned. He was confirmed to the position in 1843. In 1849 all positions on the court were vacated by a constitutional amendment. In 1851 Scott was returned to the court after another constitutional amendment made the justices' positions elective, succeeding James Harvey Birch, who declined to run; he was re-elected in 1857. In late 1861 he was one of the justices who refused to take an oath of loyalty to the national government, and lost his position. After his death in 1862 he was buried on his farm near

Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, William Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri 1804 births 1862 deaths People from Fauquier County, Virginia People from Union, Missouri 19th-century American judges