News & Analysis
Essays, analysis, and news about the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution — plus updates from the 14th Amendment Center for Law and Democracy.
Here you’ll find everything from quick takes to deeper dives to Center news and events — with a special emphasis on the people who have made or are making the promise of the 14th Amendment real today.
Breaking new ground, the Supreme Court of the United States exults a founding document that doesn’t exist.
Section 4 of the amendment bars the government from paying any debts “incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States.”
The decision is a culmination of the justices’ project, many years in the making, of undermining the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — and with it our multiracial democracy.
During a visit to Capitol Hill, students in Prof. Sherrilyn Ifill’s 14th Amendment seminar presented research on remedial measures Congress could take in documented cases of voter disenfranchisement.
“That the Work This Time Shall Finally Be Done” Explored 14th Amendment’s Role in Next Refounding
The second annual symposium of the 14th Amendment Center for Law and Democracy brought together students, activists, artists, and scholars for a day of dialogue and calls to action.
The amicus brief, co-filed by Profs. Sherrilyn Ifill and Guy-Uriel Charles in Trump v. Barbara, reaffirms an enduring consensus that children born on U.S. soil to undocumented parents are U.S. citizens.
"The lost cause." Currier & Ives. 1872. Library of Congress.
Scholarship Spotlight
Birthright Citizenship and the Dunning School of Unoriginal Meanings
Three legal scholars explore how a handful of academics have been developing a defense of a presidential order that purports to end a key aspect of the 14th Amendment.
More Essays and Updates from the 14th Amendment Center
In Trump v. CASA, there are strong echoes of the Reconstruction Court.
"The lost cause." Currier & Ives. 1872. Library of Congress.
Essay
Reviving the Promise of the 14th Amendment
Originally published in the Howard Law Journal, this essay by Sherrilyn Ifill offers a vision on how to make the centerpiece of Reconstruction come alive again.
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