When the Supreme Court Rewrites Who Counts as American

Last week, the Supreme Court did something right. In a landmark decision, Chief Justice John Roberts and a majority of the court reaffirmed what the 14th Amendment made clear after the Civil War: almost all babies born on U.S. soil are American citizens. That should not have been a close call. But it nearly was.

Here's what made this moment matter: President Trump had tried to erase birthright citizenship with an executive order when he returned to the White House in 2025. He nearly succeeded. Three conservative justices, including Clarence Thomas, dissented from the majority, arguing the 14th Amendment applied only to freed slaves and their immediate children, not to everyone born here today.

That's not a legal argument. That's rewriting history to fit a political goal.

The article captures something powerful: descendants of Dred Scott and of Chief Justice Roger Taney gathered at a church near the Supreme Court to witness this ruling. Taney wrote the 1857 decision that declared enslaved people had no citizenship rights and were "altogether unfit to associate with the white race." That decision helped spark the Civil War. His great-great-grandnephew now carries the weight of that legacy. Scott's great-great-granddaughter carries the weight of fighting to overturn it.

The fact that we came this close to letting one person dismantle 170 years of constitutional protection, by executive order, with three justices ready to sign off, tells you everything you need to know about why the Supreme Court is broken.

Right now, six justices have no term limits. None of them face binding ethics rules. The court has no meaningful accountability to anyone. When an institution this powerful operates with zero guardrails, democracy doesn't stand a chance.

This ruling was a victory. But it was also a warning.