A.G. Gancarski
Florida’s Governor is putting his legal background to work, offering observations on the contemporary relevance of what he once said was the worst decision in the history of the United States Supreme Court, and why he doesn’t believe ultimately that the current court will uphold an executive order from the new President.
On Tuesday, Ron DeSantis weighed in on the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, relative to an executive order from the Donald Trump administration invalidating the concept of birthright citizenship as it relates to the children of illegal immigrants.
The Harvard Law graduate said the “purpose of the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause was to overturn the Dred Scott case, not to bestow citizenship on those present in the U.S. against the people’s will as expressed in law.”
The citizenship clause holds that “persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Yet the position Trump, DeSantis, and others who believe in immigration restrictions subscribe to is that the children of illegal aliens are not citizens by dint of birth.
DeSantis believes the “executive order will be litigated until the Supreme Court decides the question (which it has never decided) of whether children born to illegal aliens get constitutionally-mandated citizenship.”
“The framers of the amendment clearly did not believe so,” he added.
DeSantis isn’t necessarily confident that the current court would support his and Trump’s view on birthright citizenship based on his subsequent comments responding to a poster who hoped Sen. Ashley Moody would have a chance to confirm a conservative jurist to replace a “liberal justice.”
“That might be necessary to get the desired ruling – I’m not sure there are currently five votes on the Supreme Court for the notion that the 14th Amendment does not give birthright citizenship to illegals. If there aren’t five votes then shutting down illegal alien birthright citizenship would require an amendment to the Constitution itself, which would be unlikely to get enacted as blue states would almost certainly refuse to ratify it,” DeSantis noted.
The Governor has weighed in on Dred Scott before.
Late last year, DeSantis said 1857’s Dred Scott v. Sandford stood out as the most egregious ruling in the history of the High Court.
“It denied the basic humanity of Dred Scott. It was instrumental, of course, in leading to the Civil War. I know there’s not everyone that is willing to admit that anymore, but that’s just the reality.”
The Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision was rooted in the argument that Scott, an enslaved Black man who was taken from a slave state to a free state, lacked standing to sue, even though he’d been moved to territory where slavery was illegal. Chief Justice Roger Taney’s decision was intended to overturn the Missouri Compromise, allowing slavery in the territories and giving slaveholders the presumption of elastic property rights, which DeSantis found morally and constitutionally abhorrent.
“Not only was it wrong, not only was it dehumanizing, it was massive judicial activism. That was not what the Constitution said, that was not what the Founding Fathers envisioned when they created the Constitution. And so they were taking their judicial power, and they were trying to ‘solve’ an issue that they had no right to legislate on,” DeSantis said, calling it an example of the High Court “not only getting the law wrong but also abandoning their entire role under the Constitution.”
Trump’s order says, “The privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States … when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary, and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.”
It also claims, “The Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’”
The Governor likewise has not been shy about criticizing the current Supreme Court for being insufficiently conservative, even as many analyses hold that on key questions, it leans to the right by a 6-3 margin.
His critiques have extended to Brett Kavanaugh, who, after his confirmation, opted to “go left” and said that Neil Gorsuch was even worse.
As a presidential candidate, DeSantis suggested that when the next president replaces conservative stalwarts Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, picking “good judges” is not enough.
“If you replace them with one of those three, like a Kavanaugh. that moves the court to the left, doesn’t keep it where it is,” DeSantis said. “As a President, you got to know that we’re going to need justices in the mold of it, Alito, in the mold of Clarence Thomas to replace them and then any other vacancies that may occur, because if you don’t get that right, then you’re moving the court in a more leftward direction.”
He also included Amy Comey Barrett in the mix, telling Hugh Hewitt that while he respects “the three appointees he did … none of those three are at the same level” as Alito and Thomas.
DeSantis is also lukewarm on the Chief Justice.
“If you replace a Clarence Thomas with somebody like a John Roberts or somebody like that, then you’re going to actually see the court move to the left, and you can’t do that,” DeSantis said.
As a presidential candidate, he said he expected the next President to be able to replace up to four justices and create a path to a “7-2” conservative majority.
13 comments
PeterH
January 21, 2025 at 8:57 pm
Let’s make sure DeSantis is never installed in the White House. He’s a political hack and should be banned from any leadership position.
Along for the Ride
January 21, 2025 at 9:14 pm
I hope he never gets in
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KathrynA
January 21, 2025 at 9:37 pm
Please never, but the man there now is even worse, but to bring up the Dred Scott decision in regard to all this?? Oh my, it just keeps getting worse.
MH/Duuuval
January 21, 2025 at 9:48 pm
Perhaps this is where Dee wants to land after 2026: a lifetime appointment to the federal bench? Perhaps straight to the Supremes as a successor to Alito or Thomas?
Earl Pitts American Jurisprudance Scholar Emeritus
January 22, 2025 at 8:02 am
Good Morn ‘Ting above “Dook 4 Brains Lefty” commentators,
You are all hereby placed under a Painfull Chastizement for attempting to cast shade on “48” & “49”, Ron & The Beautiful Casey Desantis, our POTUS & First Lady for the Two Terms following Trump’s current term.
And dont worry, The High Court will “Come Thru” with Sage Rullings in line with Conservative Jurisprudance Idealogy due to their concerns related to not being remembered as “Dook 4 Brains Leftist TOOLS”.
IN CLOSING:
Everyone is free to “Relax Their Political Sphincters” now that THE SAGE EARL PITTS AMERICAN HAS WEIGHED IN.
Thank you America and the above “Dook 4 Brains Lefty” commentators, who are under CHASTIZEMENT,
Earl Pitts American Sage Jurisprudance Scholar Emeritus
JD
January 22, 2025 at 11:37 am
Good morn’ to you, Shitts and the Golden Shower Age Choir,
Here we are, basking in the radiant glow of what must surely be a painfully chastising attempt at coherent thought. With grand declarations of “48” & “49” (blessed be their campaign logos!) and the inevitable High Court savior riding in on a wave of Sage Rullings™, we’re all just a heartbeat away from political nirvana—or a poorly scripted parody of it.
Fear not, comrades of the “Dook 4 Brains Leftist” brigade, for Shitts has graciously donned the mantle of “Sage Jurisprudence Scholar Emeritus” to enlighten us all. If only we’d known the cure for political discourse was a thick coating of CAPSLOCK and creative spelling.
In closing: let us all take a moment to “relax our political sphincters” as we marvel at the intellectual acrobatics of our era’s true scholar. Thank you, America, for providing such a shining example of free speech in its most… colorful form.
Yours in perpetual bemusement,
JD, A humble observer of this gilded nonsense
Earl Pitts American
January 22, 2025 at 9:55 am
Good Morn ‘Ting Sage Patriots & Earl’s Beloved Besty Leftys who voted for Trump,
I would like to take a moment to thank myself for all I have done twoards “Stoping The INSANITY” of The Democrat Party over the last 4 years. Without my, Earl Pitts American’s constant vigilance “THE DOOK FOR BRAINS” Kamalla would be our POTUS RIGHT NOW.
AS A SIDE-BAR:
I, Earl Pitts American, have determined that should Don, “THE DONALD” Trump determine it is best for America to award me with The Presidental Medal of Honor (like the one Rush got) it would be “UN-AMERICAN” for me not to not graciously accept The Presidental Medal of Honor (like the one Rush got).
IN CLOSING:
I, Earl Pitts American, will be honored to accept The Presidental Medal of Honor (like the one Rush got.
Thank you, Sage Patriots & Earl’s Beloved Besty Leftys who voted for Trump,
Earl Pitts American
*FREE BUMPER STICKER*
*WAKE UP AMERICA*
*EARL PITTS AMERICAN’S BIGGEST FAN ON BOARD*
epa
JD
January 22, 2025 at 11:39 am
Good morn’ to you, Shitts and the Most Humble Sage of Self-Congratulation,
I must humbly thank you for taking the time to thank yourself, for who else but the great Shitts, Hero of the Golden Shower Age, could single-handedly “stop the insanity” with nothing more than CAPSLOCK and a well-worn thesaurus of misspellings? Truly, Kamalla herself must quake in her boots knowing Earl Pitts American’s constant vigilance kept her away from the throne she apparently covets in your fever dreams.
AS A SIDE-SHOW:
It’s indeed inspiring to see your “determination” to accept a Presidential Medal of Honor (like the one Rush got) should The Donald feel so inclined. It would indeed be “UN-AMERICAN” for you not to accept an honor you’ve so graciously pre-awarded yourself. One can only imagine the ceremony, complete with your free bumper sticker reading: “WAKE UP AMERICA: EARL PITTS AMERICAN’S BIGGEST FAN ON BOARD.”
IN CLOSING:
Shitts, we remain eternally grateful for your service to self-promotion and the tireless war against coherent thought. May your CAPSLOCK never falter, and your sage wisdom continue to grace us all.
Yours in patriotic bemusement,
JD, A fellow observer of America’s finest comedy skit
LexT
January 22, 2025 at 11:32 am
Like it or not Clarence Thomas is the gold standard of what a Supreme Court Justice is supposed to be. We should be looking at exactly what the founders were thinking when they wrote the Constitution. If something has truly changed so much then it is worth amending the Constitution. Anything else turns the judicial branch into a super legislative branch. No one should want an unelected super legislative branch. (You only think you want that until they stop issuing judgments you like)
MH/Duuuval
January 22, 2025 at 12:12 pm
Gold standard? You mean fool’s gold. Thomas has given himself over to money from rich folks and, like Alito, imagines his skirts are clean.
“Originalism” serves only to leverage reactionary politics and corrupt Supreme Court justices.
A Day without MAGA
January 22, 2025 at 1:53 pm
The founders look down on poor Whites as trash, because they did own property Google Freeholders Founding Fathers
A Day without MAGA
January 22, 2025 at 1:50 pm
Denmark dis Trump Google Trump Denmark