This holding normally would have ended the decision, since it disposed of Dred Scott's case. But Taney did not conclude the matter before the Court, as per usual procedure. Taney continued on to assess the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise itself. He 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. Taney also reasoned that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights implicitly precluded any possibility of constitutional rights for black African slaves and their descendants. Thus, Taney concluded: