It’s good for yucks that presidential candidate Ben Carson thinks that the Dred Scott decision shows the President does not have to abide the rulings of the Supreme Court. That is, in fact, not what it shows. Perhaps there’s a revolutionary or moral argument. But in historical terms and in terms of constitutional practice that is most definitely not what it shows.
And as historian Kevin Kruse points out, we have no less an authority on this point than Abraham Lincoln, who laid it out explicitly in his speech on … Dred Scott.
Here’s Lincoln on Dred Scott: Follow court’s rulings. “More than that would be revolution.” cc: @tpm @sahilkapur pic.twitter.com/XwYAhVnnwF
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) May 12, 2015
