Fourteenth Amendment Citizen

One amendment that gives us the rights we exercise.

The most underrated amendment in the United States is the Fourteenth Amendment. People often praise the First and Second Amendments for allowing them to speak freely and bear arms. But, it is because of the Fourteenth Amendment that they can enjoy their free speech and firearms. In context to American History, the Fourteenth Amendment was created during Reconstruction. Many recognize the Fourteenth Amendment for providing the formerly enslaved Black population U.S. citizenship. The consequential amendment also gave everyone born here Birthright Citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment not only gives us citizenship, but it also gives us rights we exercise every single day. If the Right is successful, the Fourteenth Amendment will wither away and allow them to determine who is a citizen. Withering the Fourteenth Amendment will also enable them to decide what rights (if any) you will have. There is also a push to amend the U.S. Constitution that would allow for current amendments to be repealed (check back for ConCon series). This would mean that the Dred Scott decision, which has never been judicially overturned will stand. Our country would look very different if not for the Fourteenth Amendment. I would not be a citizen of the United States, exercising certain rights today, if it were not for the amendment. I am a Fourteenth Amendment Citizen, and if you're reading this, you're likely one as well.

At the end of the Civil War, what took place is referred to as the Reconstruction. Federal troops were stationed throughout the former Confederate southern states. The Union was trying to stabilize the country after the war. During this time, the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments was completed. Amendments that came out of the Reconstruction created our present day.

In June, the United States Supreme Court overturned a fifty-year-old precedent case that was Roe v. Wade (1973). In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the Supreme Court struck down the right to an abortion in a 6-3 vote. In overruling Roe, the Supreme Court gave states the power to force pregnancy. Many unfortunate surprises came from the release of the decision. Twice-impeached former President Donald Trump was vocal about appointing justices to overturn Roe during his campaign. During his term, President Trump appointed three justices. The writing was on the wall, and people refused to see it. Former President Trump also suggested he could end Birthright Citizenship through an executive order in 2018. Another unfortunate outcome of the Dobbs decision is that it will open Pandora's box. Our right to interracial or same-sex marriages, to engage in private sexual acts between two consenting adults, and our right to privacy are now in jeopardy. One case, in particular, Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), is what gave us marital privacy and the right to contraceptives between married couples. We would not have our current privacy rights if it were not for Griswold v. Connecticut. As we saw what was carried out over the summer, the Supreme Court is okay with overturning precedent. On the campaign trails, Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Master stated he would vote to confirm judges who will overturn Griswold. Something I don't feel is being talked about enough is that each of the listed cases owes credit to the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court has started a new term this month. There are no current cases challenging those prior decisions right now, and that is because state legislatures are not in session. Most state legislatures will not reconvene until January 2023. We likely won't see a case challenging previous decisions until the fall of 2023 after states have convened and attempted to pass legislation. This also means that decisions on those potential cases would not come out until 2024. The 2024 election cycle is already looking to be the most heated election cycle since 1860. The Presidential election of 1860 took place right before the first US Civil War. I say the first US Civil War because I believe a second conflict is brewing. However, I do not think it will play out as a complete repeat of states vs. the federal government.

Your right to free speech, bear arms, protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and due process depends on the Fourteenth Amendment. Before the Civil War and the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, none of those rights listed would have automatically been protected. In fact, protection for each of the rights listed depended on the state you lived in and whether or not you were a citizen. Because remember, there was no Birthright Citizenship, so, even if you were born on U.S. soil that did not make you a citizen. Had it not been for the amendment, the state you live in could deny those rights outlined in the U.S. Constitution. What the Fourteenth Amendment did was force states to respect those rights no matter where you lived as long as you are a citizen.

Check back soon for my three part series about the growing Constitutional Convention (ConCon) movement.

Stay woke.

-CJ