[DiogenesLamp]

I would further say that Congressman Bingham and six justices of the Supreme Court were in disagreement on that point, along with the vast majority of judges, be they local, state or federal who have ruled on the issue since 1898.

Well, if you are going to be fair about it, you have to admit that all those "local, state, or federal" judges "who have ruled on the issue since 1898" were following the 1898 guidance of the Gray court. It's hardly reasonable to suggest their opinions were derived independently of those six judges you mentioned. In effect, THEIR opinions are simply a parroting of the Gray court's opinion.

In terms of intellectual honesty, the dispute is really between those six judges of the Gray court and John Bingham. (The Author of the Amendment.) Additionally, the dispute is between those six judges of the Gray court, and several other lawmakers who have explicitly stated their opinions on the issue. It's not just Bingham.

Now I have a silly question for you. Who knows more about the meaning of a law? A court which sits 30 years later, or the men who wrote the law?

[Rides3]

Well, if you are going to be fair about it, you have to admit that all those "local, state, or federal" judges "who have ruled on the issue since 1898" were following the 1898 guidance of the Gray court. It's hardly reasonable to suggest their opinions were derived independently of those six judges you mentioned. In effect, THEIR opinions are simply a parroting of the Gray court's opinion.

While that is true, they fail to mention the fact that Gray himself limited the effect of the ruling:

"The evident intention, and the necessary effect, of the submission of this case to the decision of the court upon the facts agreed by the parties were to present for determination the single question stated at the beginning of this opinion, namely, whether a child born in the United States, of parent of Chinese descent, who, at the time of his birth, are subjects of the Emperor of China, but have a permanent domicil and residence in the United States, and are there carrying on business, and are not employed in any diplomatic or official capacity under the Emperor of China, becomes at the time of his birth a citizen of the United States. For the reasons above stated, this court is of opinion that the question must be answered in the affirmative"

In that ruling, Gray had the perfect opportunity to redefine US born citizen and even 'natural born citizen' as native-born without regard to parents' status. But after all the examination, citations, and quotes, he did not do so. Gray ruled Wong Kim Ark a U.S. citizen based upon the condition of his permanently domiciled parents, among other specifically named facts.