Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/9655857/Jill-Pryor-Natural-Born-Citizen
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 01:48:09+00:00

Document:
The Natural-Born Citizen Clause and Presidential Eligibility: An Approach for Resolving Two Hundred Years of Uncertainty.
gible to the Office of President. .
office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.").
Enigma, 28 MD. L. REV. I (1968); Means, Is Presidency Barred to Americans Born Abroad?, US.
reprinted in 113 CONGo REC. 15,875 (1967).
A few commentators have argued or assumed that only native-born citizens qualify as natural-born.
Supp. IV 1986), whereby a citizen of another country elects to become a citizen of the United States.
For more on use of the term, see infra notes 35, 70-72 and accompanying text; Section III.
abroad of American parents, or of one American and one alien parent,"
United States diplomats stationed abroad is also uncertain."
natural-born subjects of the crown, 4 Geo. 2, ch. 21 (1731). The Supreme Court in Montana v.
petitioner's birth, made children born abroad citizens only if their fathers were or had been citizens.
be passed on to her foreign-born children. See Rogers v. Bellei, 401 U.S. 815, 826 (1971).
on its meaning. See, e.g., Rogers v. Bellei, 401 U.S. at 829; supra note 4.
lowing naturalized citizens to become President). .
a million of these to American parents. B~th groups of citizens' have increased significantly since 1950.
therefore be excluded under an interpretation that limits the clause to native borns.
and the mother an alien, but not vice versa. See supra note 5.
[hereinafter Note, Constitutional Limitations]. .
[T]he leading British authorities agree that under the early common law, status as a natural- .
them outside of the kingdom .
Gordon, supra note 2, at 7-8 (emphasis added).
note 2, at 357 n.2; Press release of Senator Thomas Eagleton (Nov. 26, 1982); see also Weedin v.
364; Gordon, supra note 2, at 9; Means, supra note 2, at 29.
tent with other structural principles of the Constitution.
pose the question, who else of these persons "born or naturalized" is natural born, if any?
sions together, see infra notes 70-71 and accompanying text.
clause, rather than as definitions in their own right of which groups will have natural born status.
DEN, supra, at 19; Freedman, supra note 2, at 359-60, 361 n.26. But if. Ludlam v, Ludlam, 26 N.Y.
For a discussion of limitations on Congress' power to interpret the clause, see infra note 65.
legislative power of the State recognizes and announces to the world." Morse, supra note 2, at 100.
natural born if she or her parents were "subject to the jurisdiction of the United States" at her birth.
require that the presidential candidate be a citizen at the time of birth.
the vagueness of their historical sources.
Henry VIII shall be citizens at birth," see infra text accompanying notes 92-,-94.
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 256-57 (2d ed. 1836).
importance of this provision, see infra notes 81-82 and accompanying text.
19. See 2 M. FARRAND, THE RECORDS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 1781, at 498 (rev. ed.
delegates.i'' The Committee did not explain the change to "natural born"
PRESIDENCY 1775-1789, at 131-32 (1923).
21. 1 J. ELLIOT, supra note 17, at 284,302; 5 id. at 507.
C, THACH, supra note 20, at 138.
23. 1 J. ELLIOTT, supra note 17, at 302; 5 id. at 507, 562.
/ and Election, 30 YALE L.J. 545, 548 (1921).
27. An Act ... For naturalizing the children of natural-born subjects of the crown, 4 Ceo. 11, ch.
CITIZENSHIP 1608-1870, at 15 n.l0(1978).
own naturalization laws prior to the Declaration of Independence."
note 27, at 77, 123-26.
and 1773 did not, however, allow colonists to hold public office in Ireland or Great Britain.
of reference is adoption of Constitution); Palmer v. Downer, 2 Mass. 179 (1806) (same); State v.
North Carolina citizens "[ u]pon the Revolution").
31. J. KETTNER, supra note 27, at 80-82, 135-36.
32. [d. at 134, 148-56.
tion, and local assemblies passed both general and special acts of naturalization.
there was no common understanding of what "natural born' citizen"
volve on, any but a natural born Citizen.?"
meant to put' subject in exactly the same legal position as a natural-born subject). .
born abroad to American citizens." Gordon, supra note 2, at 15.
36. See Gordon, supra note 2, at 4-5'.
37. 3 M. FARRAND, supra note 19, at 61 (emphasis in original).
38. See Gordon, supra note 2; Means, supra note 2; Safire, supra note 6.
tell you what we are not doing-we never once thought of a king.
Means,	supra note 2, at 28 (quoting from the Pennsylvania Journal, Aug. 22, 1787).
For more on the framers' distrust of foreigners, see infra note 48 and accompanying text.
be native born, but must be a citizen from birth.
be included by their phrases.
40. 3 M. FARRAND, supra note 19, at 617.
42. See Fallon, A Constructivist Coherence Theory of Constitutional Interpretation, 100 HARV.
L. REV. 1189, 1198-99 (1987) (discussing difference between specific and general or "abstract"
of the text already suggests.
44. See supra Section I-B.
Congress' constitutional role in exercising its naturalization power.
another simply by crossing the border. See THE FEDERALIST No. 42, at 269-71 (J. Madison) (C.
UNITED STATES 17-18 (1969); 3 M. FARRAND, supra note 19, at 120, 359, 548. . .
548; F. FRANKLIN, supra note 46, at 30. . .
48. See 2 M. FARRAND, supra note 19, at 235-238, 243.
dangerous." 2 M. FARRAND, supra note 19, at 236; see id. at 216-18; 235-38, 243.
49. See 2 M. FARRAND, supra note 19, at 237, 270-72.
50. 3. id. at 147.
ferent privileges of Citizenship: Improper: ... because it will put it out of the power of the.
scope of Congress' naturalization power.
Natl Legislature ... to confer the full rank of Citizens on meritorious strangers. , ..
2 id. at 235-36 (emphasis in original); see also 5]. ELLJOT, supra note 17, at 411.
53. Act of Mar. 26, 1790, 1 Stat. 103, 104 (emphasis added).
2, at 362, while another suggests that "[p]ossibly the [phrase] was deemed archaic or superfluous."
(Fuller, C.]., dissenting) (statute "passed out of abundant caution to obviate misunderstandings"
about citizenship of foreign-born children of Americans).
Fourteenth Amendment "back into" the original Constitution. See infra note 66.
57. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1401-1409 (1982 & Supp. IV 1986).
58. 169 U.S. 649 (1898).
mine who shall be native-born citizens, despite its naturalization powers."
60. 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857).
61. U.S. CaNsT. amend. XIV, § 1.
62. See supra note 2; infra note 65. r"
nized by the framers. See, e.g., 3 M. FARRAND, supra note 19, at 120; THE FEDERALIST No. 32 (A.
Hamilton); id. No. 42 U. Madison).
(1964); Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. at 702. .
Nor has Congress any power over the natural born status of native-born citizens. See supra note 2.
principle ... that 'the people born in a country do constitute the nation.''' (quoting 10 Op. Atr'y Gen.
proper basis for concluding, as the circuit court in Zimmer v. Acheson'"
stumbling block for the courts."
argument that the Reconstruction Amendments can be seen as "perfecting the original Constitution,"
Federalism, 96 YAU: L.J. 1425, 1463-64 (1987).
67. Contra Gordon, supra note 2, at 15.
born child of an American parent. ld. at 827.
State action in the next sentence of the amendment.
68. See Schneider v. Rusk, 377 U.S. 163, 165 (1964); Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. at 702.
69. 191 F.2d 209 (10th Cir. 1951).
except that the latter are ineligible for the Presidency. See cases cited supra note 4; see also Osborn v.
while the Fourteenth Amendment refers to persons "born" or "naturalized" in the United States. U.S.
CONST. amend. XIV, § 1.
naturalization, and citizenship provisions of the Constitution.
ralization can create natural citizens.
thus broadening the definition of "natural born" to include those naturalized at birth. .
Justice Black is the only member of the Court who has ever recognized this as a possible reading.
He states in his dissent in Rogers u, Bellei: \ .
obtaining American citizenship which are dependent upon a congressional enactment are forms.
401 U.S. at 839-41 (Black, ]., dissenting); see also supra note 35.
legitimately within the naturalization powers of Congress. .
60 B.U.L. REV. 204, 207 (1980).
5, 13, 53 & 54 and accompanying. text.
75. Twenty of the 79 members of the first Congress had been delegates to the Convention. Of.
clause. Gordon, supra note 2, at 8 n.57.
this Note is not to advocate a particular interpretative strategy. It is, instead, to find the most plausible:.
But the constitutional text says not only "natural," it also says "born."
literally, "naturalized" (natural) "at birth" (bornj.??
expressed. See Fallon, supra note 42; see also supra note 43.
phrase perhaps explains why Hamilton left "natural" out of his draft. See supra note 41.
note 19, at 236, 243; THE FEDERALIST No. 52, at 326 U. Madison) (C. Rossiter ed. 1961).
Decision, 131 U. PA. L. REV. 1341, 1358-59 (1983).
79. See, e.g., 2 M. FARRAND, supra note 19, at 235-38.
80. See infra text accompanying notes 87-89.
81. U.S. epNST. art. II, § 1, d. 5.
896 The Yale Law Journal [Vol.
ad hoc to qualify candidates it favors or disqualify those it does not.Ni"
A structural argument may be drawn from these textual observation~,.:AJ.
natural born requirement seems unclear, perhaps we have been askingthe,;:,;~~"
birth upon any category of persons. This system is singularly uncompli-v, ;'JM;:!
The naturalized born approach enables courts to forgo a misdireete4'/,'j' ~;.::;"
search for specific intent regarding the facts of each case, for which there):"
argument demonstrates that the other constitutional eligibility requirements surrounding the natural- .
ality of original intent should be determined by what creates most plausible and coherent interpret~~::' .
tion in light of text, history, structure, and social policy). , ," .
candidate's name off the ballot at the nominating convention or keep the electors from voting.for the"
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 ("FECA"),2 U.S.C. §§ 431-455 (1982 & Supp. IV.
U.S.C.	§ 437d, g, h.
reach its final resolution in the federal courts.
are equal in all rights under the Constitution except for eligibility for the presidency. See, e.g., Bell v.
natural-born citizen clause need not be significant. Professor Van Dyne rejects the idea of "qualified"
ity Act of 1952, § 301(a)(7), 8 U.S.C. § 1401(a)(7) (repealed 1972).
birth by parentage, even though that citizenship may be lost later under specified circumstances.
time of election. See Freedman, supra note 2, at 362-63.
as well as the rights of individuals to vie for the office of President."
structural considerations. One might argue that Congress could exercise ..
87. 8 U.S.C. §§ 1401(a), (c)-(g), 1401a (1982 & Supp. IV 1986).
88. Id. §§ 1401(b), 1402.
U.S. citizen if at least one parent was a citizen of the U.S. and had a principal residence in th~ U.S..
law on equal protection grounds in order to remove the discriminatory effects. See, e.g., PlylervDoe..
457 U.S. 202 (1982) (intermediate scrutiny for classification based on alienage); Trimble v. Gordon..
430 U.S. 762 (1977) (illegitimacy); Frontiero v, Richardson, 411 U.S. 677 (1973) (gender); Reedv.
Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971) (gender). . '. .
91. Under the naturalized born approach, natural born status is not limited to native borns; also..
current naturalization. laws. Congress and the courts have historically broadened citizenship rights"
rather than narrov.:ed them. See Rogers v. Bellei, 401 U.S. 815, 826 (1971); see also supran.ote "
92. The significance of denying the right to hold office, even where the individual does "not r-over'. .>. "
notes 48-52 and accompanying text. . ' ..
candidacy, independent of the right to vote. See Mancuso v, Taft, 476 F.2d '187 (1st Cir.
footnote four of United States v.Carolene Prods. Co., 304 U.S. 144, 152-53 n.4 (1938))..
ments of government); id. No. 49 (J. Madison) (same), No. 78, at 469-70 (A. Hamilton) (C. Rossiter.
L.J. 694 (1985) (discussing Federalists' distrust of legislatures).
Paul L. Muckle, Plaintiff vs. the United States of America et al.

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