Talk about being hoisted on one’s own petard: Ted Cruz takes an “originalist” view of the Constitution -- what people would have understood the document literally to mean at the time it was ratified, rather than view it as a living document that should be interpreted by current standards and values. Cruz uses this “originalist” view to justify his 18th century view of the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms, and he promises that if elected president he’ll appoint “originalist” justices.
But what about Cruz’s eligibility to be President – the issue Donald Trump is trumpeting these days? Cruz was born in Canada and his father was a Cuban citizen, but Cruz claims nonetheless to be a natural born citizen because his mother was a US citizen. The Constitution says only “natural born citizens” are eligible to become President, yet the Supreme Court hasn’t yet ruled on the meaning of the phrase.
As Harvard constitutional expert Professor Lawrence Tribe pointed out in yesterday's Boston Globe, under the view of "originalist" justices Cruz would appoint, Cruz wouldn't be eligible to become President because the legal principles that prevailed in the 1780s and 1790s “required that someone actually be born on U.S. soil to be a 'natural born' citizen. Even having two U.S. parents wouldn't suffice. And having just an American mother, as Cruz did, would have been insufficient at a time that made patrilineal descent decisive."
Cruz should know all this. After all, he went to Harvard Law School and took constitutional law from Professor Lawrence Tribe.
What do you think?
But what about Cruz’s eligibility to be President – the issue Donald Trump is trumpeting these days? Cruz was born in Canada and his father was a Cuban citizen, but Cruz claims nonetheless to be a natural born citizen because his mother was a US citizen. The Constitution says only “natural born citizens” are eligible to become President, yet the Supreme Court hasn’t yet ruled on the meaning of the phrase.
As Harvard constitutional expert Professor Lawrence Tribe pointed out in yesterday's Boston Globe, under the view of "originalist" justices Cruz would appoint, Cruz wouldn't be eligible to become President because the legal principles that prevailed in the 1780s and 1790s “required that someone actually be born on U.S. soil to be a 'natural born' citizen. Even having two U.S. parents wouldn't suffice. And having just an American mother, as Cruz did, would have been insufficient at a time that made patrilineal descent decisive."
Cruz should know all this. After all, he went to Harvard Law School and took constitutional law from Professor Lawrence Tribe.
What do you think?
