 However, after deciding this issue, Taney did not conclude the matter before the Court, as per usual procedure, but rather continued further and struck down the Missouri Compromise as unconstitutional.Taney wrote that the Compromise's legal provisions would free slaves who were living north of the 36°N latitude line in the western territories.However, in the Court's judgment, this would constitute the government depriving slaveowners of their propertysince slaves were legally the property of their ownerswithout due process of law, which is forbidden under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.