Trump v. Barbara · ¶392

To begin, the Court invokes Frederick Douglass’s statement that “[t]he Constitution knows all the human inhabitants of this country as ‘the people.’” Ante, at 7 (quoting 2 Douglass 415). But, temporary visitors are not “inhabitants”; to be an inhabitant, a person must be domiciled. See T. Cooley, Constitutional Limitations 661 (2d ed. 1871) (“[O]ne is an inhabitant, resident, or citizen at the place where he has his domicile”); Crawford v. Wilson, 4 Barb. 504, 520 (NY 1848) (“Inhabitant is defined to be one who has his domicil in a place,” “‘as distinguished from an occasional lodger or visitor’”); Sears v. Boston, 42 Mass. 250, 251 (1840) (“the domicil, or the fact of being an inhabitant”); Lit tlefield v. Inhabitants of Brooks, 50 Me. 475, 478 (1862) (“where he was an inhabitant—where he had a domicil”). And, Frederick Douglass himself argued that blacks were citizens because they…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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