This would have attracted a lot of attention within the African American community and caused slaves to exercise the ability to sue their owners for the same rights as Dred Scott and his family. The Supreme Court also had to consider the idea that by ruling in favor of Scott, it might also anger thousands of American citizens across the states. Especially in the South, where the decision was made and slavery was a significant part of society. The Supreme Court can't do much, it's going to upset a lot of people with a lot of its decisions, but it's also going to make a lot of people happy. The Supreme Court cannot really resolve the central political conflicts that arise in society. The only thing they can do is rule in favor of certain cases and manage the resulting outcomes. In my opinion, I think a lot of people barely know about the Supreme Court, so any influence they actually try to exert on the political world of society goes unexamined.