Trump v. Barbara · ¶424
This theory of monarchical power and the status of the people provided the foundation on which the rule of birthright subjecthood stood. Just as a person automatically acquires at birth all that is entailed by the relationship between parent and child, a person born within the King’s dominion automatically became the King’s subject. Cal vin’s Case, 7 Co. Rep., at 4b, 77 Eng. Rep., at 382. This meant that the subject acquired a duty of obedience to the King, and the King owed a duty of protection to the subject. Ibid. This relationship was not based on consent, and a subject could not shed it. Ibid.; see id., at 9b, 77 Eng. Rep., at 388.Read in context ›
slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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