Trump v. Barbara · ¶491

The Court leans heavily on Wong Kim Ark, which certainly displayed the fruit of considerable research on a range of subjects. But it showed little respect for precedent. Justice Gray, the author of Elk, 112 U. S. 94, also wrote Wong Kim Ark, but he brushed Elk aside on the flimsy ground that it “concerned only members of the Indian tribes” and thus had no bearing on other children. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U. S., at 682. Wong Kim Ark’s treatment of the text of the Fourteenth Amendment and its relationship with the Civil Rights Act’s citizenship test was no better. Indeed, in reading the opinion, it is hard to escape the conclusion that it aimed to divert as much attention as possible from what those provisions actually say. The discussion of those provisions is broken up and interspersed with disquisitions on other matters.

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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