Perhaps not since the 1950s and the struggle for civil rights have constitutional issues been at the forefront of daily life. We Americans tend to think of ourselves as a young nation, and in some ways we are. But we have had a representative democracy since 1783. Few other countries can make that claim. France? On its Fifth Republic. Germany? Three Reichs and two democracies. Russia? China? Not democracies. England, Iceland, and America are among the longest-lived democratic societies in the world, and our Constitution is the reason why.
Was the Constitution perfect? No; it’s been amended twenty-seven times. One of the most important of these amendments is the Fourteenth, passed in the wake of the Civil War, and it will be the focal point of the Constitution Day panel discussion at LCSC on September 17. The Fourteenth amendment seems to guarantee birthright citizenship, or does it?
Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment says “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.”
This amendment was the first one to explicitly apply constitutional rights to individuals. Previous amendments had limited what States could do; for example no State could establish a religion. The Fourteenth was the first amendment to explicitly mention the individual. It defined who was a citizen, and specifically stated that no State shall abridge those rights without due process – i.e. a trial of some sort.
This is being tested every day, as ICE agents snatch people off the street and incarcerate them. Are these snatched people so-called “illegals”? Maybe; certainly some are undocumented. But not all are, and no one is “illegal” until a judge says so. At least according to the Fourteenth Amendment…..
George Grenley is a retired electronics engineer. Originally from the great state of Michigan, George worked in Silicon Valley for over forty years, but managed to avoid getting rich. He is now retired to a quiet farm, just southeast of east of Lewiston proper, where he pursues woodworking and politics, in part via the nice folks at NPC Dems. The opinions he expresses are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Nez Perce County Democrats.