Trump v. Barbara · ¶377

The assistant vice chancellor who was assigned the case held six days of argument, during which Julia Lynch’s citizenship “was not then made a very prominent point.” Id., at 588. After argument, the assistant vice chancellor “became so impressed with the importance of the question upon the citizenship of Julia Lynch” that he asked for supplemental briefing on the issue. Ibid. He then wrote a long opinion explaining his theory of American citizenship, which concluded that Julia Lynch was not an alien, but a citizen, and therefore entitled to inherit the property. Within a year, New York replaced the law that the assistant vice chancellor interpreted with a new law that simply made aliens eligible to inherit property. See 1845 N. Y. Laws p. 94. The State shut down his court two years later. See N. Y. Const., Art. XIV, §8 (1846) (“The offices of Chancellor, . . . Vice-Chancellor, Assistant…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.