the 14th Amendment

Constitution of the United States, via FindLaw et al ^ | adopted on July 9, 1868 | The Framers et al

[SunkenCiv]

FindLaw's commentary: In the aftermath of the Civil War, Congress, in addition to proposing to the States the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, enacted seven statutes designed in a variety of ways to implement the provisions of these Amendments. Several of these laws were general civil rights statutes which broadly attacked racial and other discrimination on the part of private individuals and groups as well as by the States, but the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional or rendered ineffective practically all of these laws over the course of several years. In the end, Reconstruction was abandoned and with rare exceptions no cases were brought under the remaining statutes until fairly recently. Beginning with the Civil Rights Act of 1957, however, Congress generally acted pursuant to its powers under the commerce clause until Supreme Court decisions indicated an expansive concept of congressional power under the Civil War Amendments, which culminated in broad provisions against private interference with civil rights in the 1968 legislation. The story of these years is largely an account of the ''state action'' doctrine in terms of its limitation on congressional powers; lately, it is the still-unfolding history of the lessening of the doctrine combined with a judicial vesting of discretion in Congress to reinterpret the scope and content of the rights guaranteed in these three constitutional amendments.

[SunkenCiv]

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

[SunkenCiv]

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[djsherin]

Ping

[Condor51]

The 14th Amendment is one of my fave's (no not because of Barry and his Birth certificate or anchor babies - seperate subjects for now), as it has a veeeery interesting history in its passage.

Section 1 created a mini firestorm. The same Democratic Party that today argues that the 2nd Amendment doesn't guarantee citizens The Individual Right To Bear Arms, were outraged and afraid that if this passed, all those FREED SLAVES would now have The Right To Bear Arms under the 2nd Amendment!

The argued that gangs of armed ex-Slaves would be roaming southern streets shooting white people and ex-slave owners at will. That carnage would reign and the streets would be running red with white people's blood.

(They were somewhat right about gangs of armed black creating carnage, but their timing and locations were a bit off)

And Section 3 is also interesting as I don't think its ever been enforced. At least not in modern times. If it was, there wouldn't be a Democrat left in Congress. (NOT sarcasm)

[MamaTexan]

The 14th Amendment, IMHO, is yet another example of how the federal government using incremental steps to solidify its national authority.

"The term resident and citizen of the United States is distinguished from a Citizen of one of the several states, in that the former is a special class of citizen created by Congress."
U.S. v. Anthony 24 Fed. 829 (1873)

Odd, I can't seem to find the ability to create citizenship in the Constitution.

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The areas 'subject to the jurisdiction of the United States' are quite specific, and can be found in Article 1, Section, Clause 17.

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People living in the enumerated areas are supposed to be US citizens because the are is the 'collective' aspect of the federal government not in the individual aspect of the States.

§ 1218. The inhabitants enjoy all their civil, religious, and political rights. They live substantially under the same laws, as at the time of the cession, such changes only having been made, as have been devised, and sought by themselves. They are not indeed citizens of any state, entitled to the privileges of such; but they are citizens of the United States. They have no immediate representatives in congress.
Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution

IMHO, the federal government uses the 14th Amendment to turn the law of the Constitution inside-out by forcing everyone to be a 'US citizen' and refuse to even acknowledge that State citizens exist.

Not to mention the really handy ability to be the only judge of its own power.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Condor51! And good point. :’)

[4CJ]

The 14th is the only Amendment that was not LEGALLY submitted by Congress, nor LEGALLY ratified by the states.

Southern states that ratified the 13th months before were prohibited by yankees to seat their Congressmen. More than enough states rejected the amendment for it to fail, and yet it was "proclaimed" to have passed.

[4CJ]

And both Northern AND Southern states immediately enacted segregated schools after the alleged ratification.

Basically the 14th granted civil liberties to former slaves, it was not intended to grant future generations of 'anchor' babies citizenship.