Citizenship

Examining what it means to be born “in” the United States and “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. Contending that the original meaning of the Citizenship Clause indicates that birthright citizenship encompasses a broad range of places and persons.

Arguing that a textualist and originalist approach to the Citizenship Clause undermines the argument that birthright citizenship must be applied equally to all persons born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.

Arguing that recovering the original meaning of the Citizenship Clause allows originalists to defend the controversial decision of Bolling v. Sharpe. Drawing on pre-Fourteenth Amendment understandings of “citizenship” and the ratification debates. Contending that this evidence provides historical and textual support for a legally enforceable guarantee of equality as broad as the Equal Protection Clause.

Arguing that the original meaning of the Citizenship Clause allows a child born to an illegal alien in the United States to be recognized as a citizen.

Arguing that the legislative history of the Citizenship Clause can be read to reach divergent outcomes. Seeking to examine the legal tenets of birthright citizenship when the clause was drafted by looking to legislation related to citizenship. Concluding that the clause is not an absolute command and that it may be supplemented by legislation.

Investigating the meaning of the Citizenship Clause as a matter of constitutional history. Cataloging and analyzing the legislative history of the Clause and looking to the intellectual and political backdrop of its drafting. Also examining the citizenship status of American Indians in 1866, contending that it provides a key to the proper scope of the Citizenship Clause.

Looking to the original intent of the Citizenship Clause, that it was intended to overrule Dred Scott v. Sandford, as the main key to its meaning. Contending that the Clause enacted a prophylactic rule preventing the majority from denying future persons born in the U.S. the legal status of citizenship because of prejudice.

Arguing that a proper understanding of the Citizenship Clause is necessary to comprehend the Privileges or Immunities Clause. Analyzing “citizen” as it appears in the social compact theory of natural law theorists and the Roman law. Noting that “citizen” is a legal term of art that had a well-developed meaning within the contemporary legal community.