This isn’t about Trump and Univision. It is about Ted Cruz and the nagging Canadian birth question.
Before anybody starts to pick up stones, let me say (I’m already ducking) that Ted Cruz was an American fom the moment he was conceived. Let’s at least get that out of the way.
Some very prominent lawyers and professors of law aren’t so convinced that someone born outside of the US meets the conditions to run for the president. A case has never come before the Supreme Court, for their interpretation of “natural born” citizens.
As Laurence Tribe, a professor at law at Harvard, has written, if this question ever comes before the Supreme Court, the judges which are most likely to side with Cruz, are the liberals, which of course Ted Cruz hates.
The court isn’t divided politically- it is divided philosophically. Those in the conservative camp, tends to interpret the constitution based on the text of the constitution (textualism) and what the founding fathers intent was (originalism). when the constitution was written. They would apply these standard to interpreting the law.
The conservatives with their narrow focus, would ironically be Cruz’s worst nightmare, because there is historical support for the contention, that what “natural born” means, the person must be born within the territory of the US
If the case makes it to the Supreme Court, it’s the liberals that will support Cruz because they tend to include more into the interpretation of what is written. They see the constitution as a “living document” providing guidance but also factoring other considerations. I also think Cruz should win, as a practical matter, because he been a citizen from the day he was born, just as all other citizens. His situation is not uncommon, as many American families work abroad, and have children. I think he would be a terrible president, but that’s up to voters, not the courts.
Stay tuned,
Dave
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