Tag: Emer de Vattel
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The Fallout From Trump v. Barbara
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2026 (Aug. 22, 2026) — INTRODUCTION The recent SCOTUS decision in Trump v. Barbara – holding, among other things, that if born here on U.S. soil, the child of an illegal alien or a foreigner unlawfully present here is nonetheless a U.S. citizen – continues to produce fallout. While technically not radioactive,…
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Revisiting the Birthright Citizenship and nbC Issues
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2026 (Jan. 26, 2026) — INTRODUCTION As dedicated P&E readers are well aware, there is now pending in the Supreme Court the case of Trump v. Barbara. The case involves a challenge to President Trump’s Executive Order 14160 regarding the meaning of “birthright citizenship” under the 14th Amendment. Following a post by…
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The Simmering nbC Issue
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2025 (Sep. 12, 2025) — Introduction As the “birthright citizenship” issue strolls its way through the lower federal courts, its related “kissing cousin” issue – the “natural born Citizen” (“nbC”) presidential eligibility restriction – remains on a back burner, simmering in a pot of widespread electorate, academic and media indifference. Happily, one…
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Does Gray’s Anomaly Matter?
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2025 (May 9, 2025) — Introduction In the continuing saga of the impact (or, for anomaly-deniers) the purported immateriality of Associate Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray’s “Anomaly,” addressed here, a few fathoms in a deeper dive into the issue may help. This dive may have more relevance to the “natural born Citizen”…
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Revisiting the Congressional Research Service 2016 nbC Report
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2024 (Dec. 21, 2024) — Introduction Once more, faithful P&E readers and students of the Constitution’s “natural born Citizen” (“nbC”) Eligibility Clause – not a concocted, fictitious “’natural born’ Citizenship Clause” – grab your preferred caffeinated beverage and find a comfortable chair, because what follows gets a bit convoluted. Ready? The “natural…
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The Ayyadurai Debacle
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2024 (Nov. 23, 2024) — Whooo boyyy… here we go again. On Nov. 18, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its order denying the petition for certiorari in the case Shiva Ayyadurai v. New Jersey Democratic State Committee, (USSC Docket 24-342). The case, – and Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai’s claim that the “natural born…
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The nbC “Two-Citizen Parents” Issue
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2024 (May 5, 2024) — INTRODUCTION It is frequently argued by opponents of the “two-citizen parents” requirement of Emer de Vattel’s definition of a “natural born Citizen” (“nbC”) found in Book 1, Ch. 19, § 212 of The Law of Nations (1758), that the requirement “is nonsense.” Indeed, the 2015 article purporting…
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A Critique of “On the Meaning of ‘Natural Born Citizen’”
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2024 (Apr. 2, 2024) — [Update, 5:58 p.m. EDT April 8, 2024: The last three paragraphs of the following initial segment of the author’s three-part analysis has been amended to reflect a discovered change in the subject article’s footnote #4.] Introduction In 2015, two former high officials in the Office of the…
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The Mooers Comment/Question
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2024 (Jan. 17, 2024) — Introduction Well, the insightful comments (and questions) on the nbC eligibility issue just keep coming. One particularly interesting and thought-provoking question now comes from reader Mooers. He focuses on your humble servant’s assertion in the post that “an nbC was a person born here to two U.S.…
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Who Can Handle the nbC Eligibility Truth?
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2024 (Jan. 14, 2024) — Introduction As interest continues to once again pick up in the presidential eligibility issue following President Trump’s post suggesting that Nikki Haley might not be a “natural born Citizen” (“nbC”), and thus ineligible, some interesting reactions and observations have surfaced. In this offering, your humble servant will…
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The Trump nbC Post
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2024 (Jan. 9, 2024) — Well, whatta ya know…, it seems that the “natural born Citizen” (“nbC”) issue may finally be getting some renewed traction. The following offering is made as a supplement to the recent one posted on the presidential “eligibility” topic by the intrepid P&E Editor here. As noted there,…
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A Five-Paragraph Treatise on nbC
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2023 (Dec. 13, 2023) — In the spirit of Christmas, and with hopes for a very Happy New Year for all P&E readers, your humble servant has determined to create and provide a gift. It is hoped that the gift may assist in explaining, in something of a “Cliff’s Notes®” abbreviated way,…
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More News on Bing AI’s Views of an nbC
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2023 (Dec. 9, 2023) — As the issue of what it takes to be a “natural born Citizen” (“nbC”) as intended by the Founders – as contrasted with contemporary wags and academics – continues to be “evaded” by the U.S. Supreme Court, your humble servant persists in interrogating Bing AI on the…
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The Kerchner “Hint”
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2023 (Dec. 6, 2023) — In response/comment to your humble servant’s post here, P&E contributor, reader and nbC warrior CDR Charles Kerchner (Ret) suggested asking Bing AI if any of the Founders understood French. The response could shed light on a predicate foundation for the Founders’ use and understanding of Emer de…
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The Bing AI Saga Continues
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2023 (Dec. 4, 2023) — Welllll…, the natural born Citizen (“nbC”) issue and the Bing AI responses to related questions continues to evolve. As faithful P&E readers recall, the intrepid Editor recently published a post regarding an email that your humble servant had sent to her. The post addressed, among other things,…
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The Succession Issue
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2023 (Aug. 9, 2023) — Sadly, the time has come for the Republic to prepare for a possible political upheaval not seen since the Civil War. As the Clown at 1600 often states: that is a fact…, not hyperbole. While the events precipitating the crisis might not occur today or tomorrow, circumstances…
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Quotable Quotes re Citizenship Kinds, Allegiance, and The Presidential Eligibility Clause in The United States Constitution
by CDR Charles F. Kerchner, Jr. (Ret), blogging at CDRKerchner, ©2023 (Jul. 22, 2023) — “The citizens are the members of the civil society; bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in its advantages. The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents…
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A Deeper Dive Into the nbC Pond, Part 3
by Joseph DeMaio, ©2023 (Jun. 29, 2023) — [See previous installments in this series here and here. The “CKA” article referred to below can be found here. Emer de Vattel’s “treatise” is “The Law of Nations,” also referenced earlier in the essay. – Ed.] In reality, the notion that a child born anywhere in the…
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Natural Born Citizen and Natural Law
WHAT PART DID NATURAL LAW PLAY IN THE “NATURAL BORN CITIZEN” REQUIREMENT FOR THE PRESIDENCY? by Thinkwell (Nov. 27, 2010) — Mr. Pauly claims that by the laws of nature as described by E. de Vattel, to qualify as a natural born citizen, one need only be born to a citizen father into a legitimate…