Trump v. Barbara · ¶111

Senator Trumbull’s progression from specific to universal was more than mere word choice. In the face of the virulent anti-immigrant—and, in particular, the anti-Chinese and the anti-Romani—sentiment of that era, language targeting just freed former slaves would have been the path of least (or less) resistance. But Senator Trumbull, along with those colleagues who took up the same mantle during the ratification debates, expressly rejected that narrow framing.

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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