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On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case regarding birthright citizenship rights for American Samoans.
I thought for sure this case would be heard by the court but it was refused.
This case had been targeted by Justice Gorsuch, so it appeared to be a slam dunk that it would be heard.
Obviously, that was not the case.
Not This Time
The court’s decision was released on Monday with no dissent and no voting record.
This was a pet case for Justices Gorsuch and Sotomayor, so I am extremely surprised that Gorsuch failed to persuade another conservative justice to support taking the case to, at the very least, hear the argument.
The case was challenging American Samons not eligible for birthright citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.
The group had won the first round of litigation in 2019.
The U.S. government appealed and the decision.
The surprising aspect of the case was that the appeal was then joined by the government of American Samoa.
The appeal was successful in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
With the successful appeal and Supreme Court denying the case, the right to grant citizenship to American Samoans remains with Congress.
