Trump v. Barbara · ¶61

The Government and the principal dissent share many of our premises. They agree that the Citizenship Clause was intended to incorporate the “background principles” of the common law. Brief for Petitioners 15–16; see, e.g., post, at 2–3, 86 (THOMAS, J., dissenting). They agree that, under the common law, “citizenship turns on allegiance.” Brief for Petitioners 40; see, e.g., post, at 1, 17–18 (THOMAS, J., dissenting). And they agree that “Dred Scott departed from that traditional, allegiance-based view of citizenship”—a departure that Congress “repudiated” in the Clause. Brief for Petitioners 16–17; see, e.g., post, at 1–2, 26–27 (THOMAS, J., dissenting).

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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