Abortion? 1973, Roe v Wade? Was that a terrible decision?
Yes, I think so. It was a horrible decision.
Gay Marriage? Yes, that was a horrible decision, and it was based on the "equal protection clause" of the 14th amendment.
Banning prayer in public schools? Horrible decision based on the incorporation doctrine of the 14th amendment.
Anchor babies? Terrible decision, based on the 14th amendment citizenship.
Wrecking "natural born citizen"? Yes, the 14th did that.
I used to have a better memory, and I could tell you more bad decisions and how they came out of the 14th, but I have forgotten much of what I used to know. Anyways, pretty much every rotten decision that came out of the Supreme Court was a consequence of the 14th amendment.
It's possible to argue that the amendment could have been drafted better or applied better, but I don't think you understand the history involved.
I've read the debates on the 14th in congress. Some of their earlier draft verbiage is better than what they ended up with. Yes, the main problem with the 14th is it is badly worded and badly thought out.
It may have been intended to have a noble purpose, but they botched the writing of it. The Civil Rights act of 1866 was better worded and clearer in meaning.
Why did we get the 14th Amendment?
I used to believe we got the 14th because people were doing something noble for the downtrodden, but I have become so cynical I now believe that it was written to insure a newly created voting block could continue to reliably vote for the people in power at that time.
And why did it become so significant 50 or 60 years ago (90 or 100 years after the Civil War)?
Because the later parts of it were so badly written and so badly thought out that activist Judges could drive a truck through it. They could enact their own personal opinions, and claim it was justified because of the incorporation doctrine of the 14th.
They could get anything they wanted out of the verbiage merely by construing what they wanted as a result out of the broad canvas of power it provided.
Was Brown v. Board of Education rotten?
And were Dred Scott v. Sandford or Plessy v. Ferguson good decisions?
Because the later parts of it were so badly written and so badly thought out that activist Judges could drive a truck through it. They could enact their own personal opinions, and claim it was justified because of the incorporation doctrine of the 14th.
The right answer to why we got the 14th Amendment and why it became so important is "segregation," but the judges would settle for "lynching."