Guest Posts at Volokh Conspiracy on Originalism and Birthright Citizenship
Michael Ramsey

Here are my guest posts from this week at Volokh Conspiracy, where I was blogging about my forthcoming article Originalism and Birthright Citizenship:

Originalism and Birthright Citizenship: The original meaning of the citizenship clause answers some questions and raises some others.

The Original Meaning of "Born … in the United States": It encompassed all territory under U.S. permanent sovereignty.

The Original Meaning of "Subject to the Jurisdiction" of the United States: It meant under the authority of U.S. law, thus excluding foreign diplomats, foreign armies and (at the time) Native American tribes.

Applying the Citizenship Clause's Original Meaning to Modern Controversies: The original meaning gives birthright citizenship to the U.S.-born children of undocumented migrants, even though its drafters didn't realize it would.

Originalism and Accidental Outcomes: Should we follow the original meaning even when it resolves issues in ways its enactors did not foresee?

Posted at 6:14 AM