 He had secured counsel for his sister in the state case, and he engaged the same lawyer for his own defense in the federal case.Sanford also consented to be represented by genuine pro-slavery advocates before the Supreme Court, rather than to put up a token defense.Historians discovered that after the Supreme Court had heard arguments in the case but before it had issued a ruling, President-elect James Buchanan wrote to his friend, US Supreme Court Associate Justice John Catron, to ask whether the case would be decided by the Supreme Court before his inauguration in March 1857.