A bill to direct the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library to remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall for installation in the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds, and for other purposes.

Bill: 117-s-5229
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2022-12-08
Policy area: Congress
Subjects: Judges

Monuments and memorials

Supreme Court

U.S. Capitol

U.S. history
Latest action: action_date: 2022-12-27
text: Became Public Law No: 117-326.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-12-08
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>This bill directs the Joint Committee on the Library to remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court chamber of the Capitol and install a bust of Thurgood Marshall in a prominent location in the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds.</p> <p>In determining the location for the permanent installation of the bust of Thurgood Marshall, the committee shall give priority to identifying an appropriate location near the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol.</p>

action_date: 2022-12-27
action_desc: Public Law
text: <p>This act directs the Joint Committee on the Library to remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court chamber of the Capitol and install a bust of Thurgood Marshall in a prominent location in the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds.</p> <p>In determining the location for the permanent installation of the bust of Thurgood Marshall, the committee shall give priority to identifying an appropriate location near the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol.</p>

tv_txt: 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5229 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AN ACT To direct the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library to remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall for installation in the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds, and for other purposes.

1. Replacement of bust of Roger Brooke Taney with bust of Thurgood Marshall (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) While sitting in the Capitol, the Supreme Court issued the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision on March 6, 1857. Written by Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, whose bust sits inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol, this opinion declared that African Americans were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal courts. This decision further declared that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. (2) Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s authorship of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the effects of which would only be overturned years later by the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, renders a bust of his likeness unsuitable for the honor of display to the many visitors to the Capitol. (3) As Frederick Douglass said of this decision in May 1857, This infamous decision of the Slaveholding wing of the Supreme Court maintains that slaves are within the contemplation of the Constitution of the United States, property; that slaves are property in the same sense that horses, sheep, and swine are property; that the old doctrine that slavery is a creature of local law is false; that the right of the slaveholder to his slave does not depend upon the local law, but is secured wherever the Constitution of the United States extends; that Congress has no right to prohibit slavery anywhere; that slavery may go in safety anywhere under the star-spangled banner; that colored persons of African descent have no rights that white men are bound to respect; that colored men of African descent are not and cannot be citizens of the United States. . (4) While the removal of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s bust from the Capitol does not relieve the Congress of the historical wrongs it committed to protect the institution of slavery, it expresses Congress’s recognition of one of the most notorious wrongs to have ever taken place in one of its rooms, that of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. (b) Removal of bust of Roger Brooke Taney Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library (referred to in this Act as the Joint Committee ) shall remove from public display the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and the plinth upon which the bust is placed. The bust and plinth shall remain in the custody of the Senate Curator. (c) Bust of Thurgood Marshall (1) Obtaining bust Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee shall enter into an agreement to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall, under such terms and conditions as the Joint Committee considers appropriate and consistent with applicable law. (2) Placement (A) In general The Architect of the Capitol, under the direction of the Joint Committee, shall permanently install the bust obtained under paragraph (1) in a prominent location in the Capitol or on the United States Capitol Grounds, as described in section 5102 of title 40, United States Code. (B) Priority for location In determining the location for the permanent installation of the bust obtained under paragraph (1), the Joint Committee shall give priority to identifying an appropriate location near the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol.

Passed the Senate December 8, 2022. Secretary

tv_txt: One Hundred Seventeenth Congress of the United States of America 2d Session Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two S. 5229 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AN ACT To direct the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library to remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall for installation in the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds, and for other purposes.

1. Replacement of bust of Roger Brooke Taney with bust of Thurgood Marshall (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) While sitting in the Capitol, the Supreme Court issued the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision on March 6, 1857. Written by Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, whose bust sits inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol, this opinion declared that African Americans were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal courts. This decision further declared that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. (2) Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s authorship of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the effects of which would only be overturned years later by the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, renders a bust of his likeness unsuitable for the honor of display to the many visitors to the Capitol. (3) As Frederick Douglass said of this decision in May 1857, This infamous decision of the Slaveholding wing of the Supreme Court maintains that slaves are within the contemplation of the Constitution of the United States, property; that slaves are property in the same sense that horses, sheep, and swine are property; that the old doctrine that slavery is a creature of local law is false; that the right of the slaveholder to his slave does not depend upon the local law, but is secured wherever the Constitution of the United States extends; that Congress has no right to prohibit slavery anywhere; that slavery may go in safety anywhere under the star-spangled banner; that colored persons of African descent have no rights that white men are bound to respect; that colored men of African descent are not and cannot be citizens of the United States. . (4) While the removal of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s bust from the Capitol does not relieve the Congress of the historical wrongs it committed to protect the institution of slavery, it expresses Congress’s recognition of one of the most notorious wrongs to have ever taken place in one of its rooms, that of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. (b) Removal of bust of Roger Brooke Taney Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library (referred to in this Act as the Joint Committee ) shall remove from public display the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and the plinth upon which the bust is placed. The bust and plinth shall remain in the custody of the Senate Curator. (c) Bust of Thurgood Marshall (1) Obtaining bust Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee shall enter into an agreement to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall, under such terms and conditions as the Joint Committee considers appropriate and consistent with applicable law. (2) Placement (A) In general The Architect of the Capitol, under the direction of the Joint Committee, shall permanently install the bust obtained under paragraph (1) in a prominent location in the Capitol or on the United States Capitol Grounds, as described in section 5102 of title 40, United States Code. (B) Priority for location In determining the location for the permanent installation of the bust obtained under paragraph (1), the Joint Committee shall give priority to identifying an appropriate location near the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate

tv_txt: II 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5229 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 8, 2022 Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Van Hollen , Ms. Klobuchar , and Mr. Booker ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed A BILL To direct the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library to remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall for installation in the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds, and for other purposes.

1. Replacement of bust of Roger Brooke Taney with bust of Thurgood Marshall (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) While sitting in the Capitol, the Supreme Court issued the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision on March 6, 1857. Written by Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, whose bust sits inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol, this opinion declared that African Americans were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal courts. This decision further declared that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. (2) Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s authorship of Dred Scott v. Sandford , the effects of which would only be overturned years later by the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, renders a bust of his likeness unsuitable for the honor of display to the many visitors to the Capitol. (3) As Frederick Douglass said of this decision in May 1857, This infamous decision of the Slaveholding wing of the Supreme Court maintains that slaves are within the contemplation of the Constitution of the United States, property; that slaves are property in the same sense that horses, sheep, and swine are property; that the old doctrine that slavery is a creature of local law is false; that the right of the slaveholder to his slave does not depend upon the local law, but is secured wherever the Constitution of the United States extends; that Congress has no right to prohibit slavery anywhere; that slavery may go in safety anywhere under the star-spangled banner; that colored persons of African descent have no rights that White men are bound to respect; that colored men of African descent are not and cannot be citizens of the United States. . (4) While the removal of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s bust from the Capitol does not relieve the Congress of the historical wrongs it committed to protect the institution of slavery, it expresses Congress’s recognition of one of the most notorious wrongs to have ever taken place in one of its rooms, that of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. (b) Removal of bust of Roger Brooke Taney Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library (referred to in this Act as the Joint Committee ) shall remove from public display the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and the plinth upon which the bust is placed. The bust and plinth shall remain in the custody of the Senate Curator. (c) Bust of Thurgood Marshall (1) Obtaining bust Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee shall enter into an agreement to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall, under such terms and conditions as the Joint Committee considers appropriate and consistent with applicable law. (2) Placement (A) In general The Architect of the Capitol, under the direction of the Joint Committee, shall permanently install the bust obtained under paragraph (1) in a prominent location in the Capitol or on the United States Capitol Grounds, as described in section 5102 of title 40, United States Code. (B) Priority for location In determining the location for the permanent installation of the bust obtained under paragraph (1), the Joint Committee shall give priority to identifying an appropriate location near the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol.