Question: Which was tried first: Goodridge v. Department of Public Health or Dred Scott v. Sandford?

Context paragraphs:
William Scott (Missouri): William Scott (June 7, 1804 – 1862) was an American lawyer and judge who served on the Supreme Court of Missouri 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" case.  Scott's opinion, which overturned well-established precedent in Missouri, set the stage for Dred Scott's case in the Supreme Court.

Freeport Doctrine: The Freeport Doctrine was articulated by Stephen A. Douglas at the second of the Lincoln-Douglas debates on August 27, 1858, in Freeport, Illinois.  Former one-term U.S. Representative Abraham Lincoln was campaigning to take Douglas' U.S. Senate seat by strongly opposing all attempts to expand the geographic area in which slavery was practiced.  Lincoln tried to force Douglas to choose between the principle of popular sovereignty proposed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act (which left the fate of slavery in a U.S. territory up to its inhabitants), and the majority decision of the United States Supreme Court in the case of "Dred Scott v. Sandford", which stated that slavery could not legally be excluded from U.S. territories (since Douglas professed great respect for Supreme Court decisions, and accused the Republicans of disrespecting the court, yet this aspect of the "Dred Scott" decision was contrary to Douglas' views and politically unpopular in Illinois).  Instead of making a direct choice, Douglas' response stated that despite the court's ruling, slavery could be prevented from any territory by the refusal of the people living in that territory to pass laws favorable to slavery.  Likewise, if the people of the territory supported slavery, legislation would provide for its continued existence.

Marie Louise v. Marot: Marie Louise v. Marot (1836) was a freedom suit heard by the Louisiana state district court and appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court.  The Court held that a slave who is taken to a territory prohibitive of slavery cannot be again reduced to slavery on returning to a territory allowing of slavery.  The ruling was cited as precedent to the 1856 landmark "Dred Scott v. Sandford" case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Supreme Court Justice John McLean cited the precedent in his dissent of the majority ruling.  Six of eight justices did not abide by the precedent in what has been considered the worst decision ever made by the Supreme Court.

Dred Scott v. Sandford: Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857) , also known simply as the Dred Scott case, was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on US labor law and constitutional law.  It held that "a negro, whose ancestors were imported into [the U.S.], and sold as slaves", whether enslaved or free, could not be an American citizen and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court, and that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States.  Dred Scott, an enslaved man of "the negro African race" who had been taken by his owners to free states and territories, attempted to sue for his freedom.  In a 7–2 decision written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the court denied Scott's request.  The decision was only the second time that the Supreme Court had ruled an Act of Congress to be unconstitutional.

Eugene Field House (St. Louis): The Eugene Field House is a historic house museum at 634 South Broadway in St. Louis, Missouri.  Built in 1845, it was the home of Roswell Field, an attorney for Dred Scott in the landmark "Dred Scott v. Sandford" court case.  Field's son, Eugene Field, was raised there and became a noted writer of children's stories.  A National Historic Landmark, it is now a museum known as the Field House Museum.  (Previously known as The Eugene Field House & St. Louis Toy Museum.)

George Mathews (judge): George Mathews, Jr. (September 30, 1774 – November 14, 1836), was a Judge of the Superior Courts of the Territory of Mississippi and the Territory of Orleans, and Presiding Judge of the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1813 until his death in 1836.  His ruling in "Marie Louise v. Marot" was cited as precedent by dissenting U.S. Supreme Court Justice John McLean in the 1856 landmark "Dred Scott v. Sandford" case.

Dred Scott: Dred Scott (c. 1799 – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved African American man in the United States who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom and that of his wife and their two daughters in the "Dred Scott v. Sandford" case of 1857, popularly known as the "Dred Scott Decision".  Scott claimed that he and his wife should be granted their freedom because they had lived in Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory for four years, where slavery was illegal.  The United States Supreme Court decided 7–2 against Scott, finding that neither he nor any other person of African ancestry could claim citizenship in the United States, and therefore Scott could not bring suit in federal court under diversity of citizenship rules.  Moreover, Scott's temporary residence outside Missouri did not bring about his emancipation under the Missouri Compromise, which the court ruled unconstitutional as it would "improperly deprive Scott's owner of his legal property".

Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health: Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, 289 Conn. 135, 957 A.2d 407, is a 2008 decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court holding that allowing same-sex couples to form same-sex unions but not marriages violates the Connecticut Constitution.  It was the third time that a ruling by the highest court of a U.S. state legalized same-sex marriage, following Massachusetts in "Goodridge v. Department of Public Health" (2003) and California in "In re Marriage Cases" (2008).  This case legalized same-sex marriage in Connecticut.

Hugh A. Garland: Hugh A. Garland (June 1, 1805 – October 14, 1854) was an American slaveholder, lawyer and politician.  He served in the Virginia House of Delegates.  He was a staunch supporter of slavery in the United States, and he led the defense for Dred Scott's owner, John F. A. Sanford, in the notorious case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, but died two years before the case was argued in court.

Goodridge v. Department of Public Health: Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health, 798 N.E.2d 941 (Mass. 2003), is a landmark state appellate court case dealing with same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.  The November 18, 2003, decision was the first by a U.S. state's highest court to find that same-sex couples had the right to marry.  Despite numerous attempts to delay the ruling, and to reverse it, the first marriage licenses were issued to same-sex couples on May 17, 2004, and the ruling has been in full effect since that date.

Supporting paragraphs: Dred Scott v. Sandford Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
Answer: Dred Scott v. Sandford