Supreme Court to hear “birthright” citizenship case
Bench to make decision on procedure, not merits of constitutional question
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - The nine Justices on the Supreme Court will not – for now – be ruling on the Constitutionality of the President’s Executive Order. Instead, the Court will decide whether federal judges have the authority to issue nationwide injunctions that could impact everyone ,not just the people directly affected by the original case.
Professor Michele Goodwin is a professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University.
“The strategy has been that one could say that it’s judge shopping or forum shopping, to get a case in front of a judge that might issue a particular ruling and then that ruling, affecting the entire nation.”
The President’s executive order to end so-called “birthright citizenship” will serve a backdrop to Thursday’s case at the Supreme Court. Three separate federal judges have blocked that order from taking effect nationwide.
Georgetown Law Professor Michele Goodwin says the Trump istration is asking the Court to limit the scope of the birthright citizenship injunctions - so that they apply only to the 22 states that challenged Trump’s executive order.
Once the Court rules on that procedural issue, the justices could ultimately rule on the President’s order ending birthright citizenship.
Georgetown University constitutional law professor Michele Goodwin,
“So this case relates to many things, but at its core is this question about birthright citizenship. And what that means is that in the United States, since the ratification of the 14th amendment in 1868, that individuals who are born, in this country become citizens just by the right of birth, this was really a profound change.”
Broad injunctions against presidential policies are not new. Presidents Trump, Biden and Obama have all raised concerns about universal injunctions. As for the issue of birthright citizenship, most legal experts say the President’s plan to end birthright citizenship is likely to ultimately be struck down.
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