subject to the jurisdiction

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    Supreme Fraud: Plyler v. Doe

    ByP.A. Madison
    11 Comments

    I do not think there is any other single Supreme Court case in which I am asked to comment on more than the case of Plyler v. Doe – especially now with more press attention being devoted to school overcrowding and the costs associated with teaching non-bona fide resident children belonging to citizens of other nations. I have not devoted any lengthy commentary on this case for the simple reason the four dissenting justices (O’Conner, Burger, Rehnquist and White) thoroughly highlighted the…

  • What ‘Subject to the Jurisdiction Thereof’ Really Means

    ByP.A. Madison
    157 Comments

    Because the purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment’s first section was to end the denial of those fundamental rights that belong to all United States citizens by their citizenship under Article IV, Section II of the U.S. Constitution, it was imperative to first define who was a United States citizen. Otherwise, a state could refuse to recognize newly emancipated slaves as citizens by withholding the right to sue, make contracts, due process, purchase property, etc., in any state they ventured into. Therefore, the…