154 Years Ago Today . . .

The New York Times reported that the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857). In that decision, the Times reported that the Court held, remarkably to our modern eyes, that "Negroes, whether slaves or free, that is, men of the African race, are not citizens of the United States by the Constitution."

Perhaps it is time to reexamine the unconstitutional but common notion that our Supreme Court Justices are infallible and unaccountable. I know Dred Scott's attorney -- my great, great grandfather Montgomery Blair -- did and, compelled by his sacrifice in doing so, so do I.