Existing comment:
Judicial Robe of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney:
Supreme Court Justices have worn robes since the 1790s to denote their office. Taney's black silk robe may be the one seen in the late 1850s photograph by Gurney & Son Studio at left. Highly respected for much of his career, Taney's legacy was tainted by his controversial 1857 opinion in the Dred Scott case. At the start of the Civil War he was 84 years old and illness caused him to miss several Court sessions before his death in 1864. |