Hogan: Removing Taney Statue Outside State House 'The Right Thing To Do'

Gov. Larry Hogan is joining House Speaker Michael E. Busch in calling for the removal of a monument to former Chief Justice Roger B. Taney.

"As I said at my inauguration, Maryland has always been a state of middle temperament, which is a guiding principle of our administration," Hogan said in a statement. "While we cannot hide from our history – nor should we – the time has come to make clear the difference between properly acknowledging our past and glorifying the darkest chapters of our history. With that in mind, I believe removing the Justice Roger B. Taney statue from the State House grounds is the right thing to do, and we will ask the State House Trust to take that action immediately."

Taney, a Maryland native, wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery and denied citizenship to black people.

Senate President Mike Miller has opposed removing the statue, arguing that Taney was not a Confederate figure, but that he wouldn't block its removal if Hogan asked for it.

"When we commissioned the statue to honor Justice Thurgood Marshall, it was a very public and purposeful compromise to give balance to our State House grounds recognizing our State has its own history of which we have much to be proud, but that is also flawed," Miller said in a statement.

Leaders in Baltimore City and Howard County are also considering the fates of Confederate monuments there.