 James Buchanan was seen to hold a whispered conversation with Roger Taney (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) during the festivities.This — combined with Buchanan's reference in his inaugural speech to a coming Supreme Court decision which would "speedily and finally" settle disputes over slavery in the U.S. territories, and the issuance of the Dred Scott v Sandford ruling (supporting Buchanan's views) two days after the speech — gave rise to suspicions among many supporters of the Republican Party that Buchanan and Taney had conducted improper pre-decision consultations on the Dred Scott case at the inaugural, violating principles of executive-judicial separation.In fact, such consultations had taken place, but in written letters between Buchanan and Supreme Court judge John Catron in February.