Federal Judges: The Birthplace Controversy, the Constitution, and the Fight Against Rhetoric

Naturalized citizens have served as federal judges, including as Justices of our Supreme Court, for more than two centuries, many with great distinction. Recently Representative Nancy Mace introduced a joint resolution calling for an amendment to our Constitution that would require that federal judges, alongside members of Congress, be born in the United States. Previously, Representative Pete Stauber proposed legislation requiring that all American judges be “natural born citizens” and require sitting judges with dual citizenship to renounce foreign ties. On this Lawyer 2 Lawyer episode, Craig welcomes Judge Jeremy D. Fogel, formerly of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, as they discuss these proposals that would require federal judges to be born in the United States or qualify as “natural born citizens, and the opposition by a group of bipartisan judges,  Keep Our Republic's Article III Coalition, who are leading the charge against these proposals which create hateful rhetoric and go against the framers of our Constitution’s ideals.   Mentioned in this Episode: Keep Our Republic's Article III Coalition