This Note examines the evolution of Justice Hugo Black’s originalist approach to the Fourteenth Amendment Citizenship Clause, culminating in the majority opinion he authored in 1967’s Afroyim v. Rusk. In that landmark decision, the Court ruled that citizens of the United States may not be involuntarily deprived of their citizenship. The Court’s ruling in Afroyim struck down a federal law mandating loss of U.S. citizenship for voting in a foreign election, overruling 1958’s Perez v. Brownell, in which the Court upheld loss of citizenship under similar circumstances. The Note examines primary source material from the Library of Congress—in particular, cert memoranda and correspondence between the Justices—to show Justice Black’s eventual reliance on a narrow selection of materials. Specifically, Justice Black uses the text of the Amendment and floor speeches by the two principal framers of the Fourteenth Amendment, New York Representative John Bingham and Michigan Senator Jacob Howard. The Note argues that Justice Black’s approach ultimately shapes much of Chief Justice Warren’s jurisprudence on the Citizenship Clause. The Note concludes by showcasing the legacy of Justice Black’s opinion as a landmark work of progressive originalism.

Continue reading “To Give to This Citizen That Which Is His Own”: Justice Black’s Originalist Interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment Citizenship Clause in Afroyim v. Rusk