Dredd Scott was a slave. He lived in a free slave for a long time (two years). Although he was in a free state, they still didn't let him be free. Because of this, he sued for his liberty. At this time, most people thought that blacks didn't have rights and these people included the Supreme court. This meant that any black could not sue anybody for anything and that pretty much meant that blacks had no rights. that's kind of sad because that sums up the possibilities of blacks defending themselves legally at the time.