<Li> Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) Dred Scott, a slave owned by a Dr. Emerson, was taken from Missouri to a free state and then back to Missouri again . Scott sued, claiming that his residence in a free territory granted him freedom . In a 7 - 2 vote, the Supreme Court decided that Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in the territories, making the already repealed Missouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional . Furthermore, the Court went on to state that blacks were not citizens of the United States and could not become citizens and therefore they could not sue in a court . </Li> <Ul> <Li> Ex parte Merryman (1861) was actually not a Supreme Court case, although it was heard by then - Chief Justice Roger Taney (see circuit riding). Taney protested Lincoln's secret notice granting military personnel the power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus . This case is an example of a U.S. President ignoring a court's ruling on the grounds of necessity . </Li> <Li> In Ex parte Vallandigham (1863), a former congressman was tried before a military tribunal by General Ambrose Burnside for treason after he delivered an incendiary speech at Mount Vernon . A writ of certiorari brought the case to the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roger Taney . The court avoided disagreement with the President or military by arguing that since the extra-legal tribunals were, unsurprisingly, not listed in any documents enumerating courts over which the Supreme Court had authority, Vallandigham had no grounds for appeal . Ex parte Metzger was used as precedent . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Ex parte Merryman (1861) was actually not a Supreme Court case, although it was heard by then - Chief Justice Roger Taney (see circuit riding). Taney protested Lincoln's secret notice granting military personnel the power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus . This case is an example of a U.S. President ignoring a court's ruling on the grounds of necessity . </Li> <Li> In Ex parte Vallandigham (1863), a former congressman was tried before a military tribunal by General Ambrose Burnside for treason after he delivered an incendiary speech at Mount Vernon . A writ of certiorari brought the case to the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roger Taney . The court avoided disagreement with the President or military by arguing that since the extra-legal tribunals were, unsurprisingly, not listed in any documents enumerating courts over which the Supreme Court had authority, Vallandigham had no grounds for appeal . Ex parte Metzger was used as precedent . </Li>

The supreme court case that most clearly contribute to the start of the civil war was