The City Council will vote on the new name of Taney Street in Philadelphia’s Grays Ferry neighborhood

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The Philadelphia City Council will vote Thursday on a bill that would change the name of Taney Street in the city’s Grays Ferry neighborhood.

That mile-long block is named after former Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney. He wrote the infamous Dred Scott decision in 1857, which constitutional scholars consider a stain on the court’s history and the court’s worst decision.

The decision held that African Americans were not citizens of the United States and did not enjoy the rights and protections of the Constitution.

A petition to rename the street in 2021 collected more than 2,700 signatures.

RELATED: The Philadelphia community is campaigning to change the street name with a controversial history

The council says 90% of Taney Street residents are against the name.

They want the street to be renamed in honor of Caroline LeCount, a Philadelphia civil rights pioneer and educator.

She was the first black woman to pass the city’s education exam.