(AP) ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is asking for the removal of a statue of the Supreme Court justice who wrote a decision upholding slavery that sits on the front law of the state house.
Hogan said in a statement on Tuesday that he believes removing the Roger B. Taney (TAW-nee) statue from the State House grounds is the right thing to do.
The Republican governor’s statement comes a day after Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch, a Democrat, said the Confederate monument doesn’t belong at the state house in Annapolis.
Hogan says he will ask the State House Trust to “immediately” remove the statue.
Taney, a Maryland native, wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery and denied citizenship to black people.