IMMIGRATION/SUPREME COURT: “The Supreme Court on Monday [6-12-17] struck down a federal law that treats children born overseas to unmarried parents differently for purposes of citizenship depending upon whether the biological father or mother is a US citizen.
Under the law, US citizen fathers have to spend at least five years in the states before the child could become a citizen, while the mother only had to spend one year…
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who dedicated her career to the issue of gender discrimination before taking the bench, wrote the decision.
The section of the 1952 Nationality Act, she wrote, could not ‘withstand inspection under a Constitution that requires the government to respect the equal dignity and stature of its male and female citizens.’
But while the law ‘violates the equal-protection principles,’ the court also said it is ‘not equipped’ to grant the relief that Morales-Santana seeks — striking down the law and grant him citizenship. Congress would have to make that determination, Ginsburg wrote.”
-Ariane de Vogue, “Supreme Court strikes down law that treats children born overseas to unmarried parents differently,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, June 12, 2017 12:40pm