The writ of habeas corpus is an extraordinary remedy because it gives a court the power to release a prisoner after the prisoner has been processed through the criminal justice system, with all its procedural safeguards and appeals.
Noun. 1. Roger Brooke Taney-United States jurist who served as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court; remembered for his ruling that slaves and their descendants have no rights as citizens (1777-1864).
Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sandford. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the now infamous opinion of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case, and the text is available on this webpage. But six other justices concurred with the decision, and two dissented.