Written By: Blake Etringer 

The New York University Law Review recently published an article co-authored by Professor Bethany Berger, who holds the Alan D. Vestal Chair in Law at the University of Iowa College of Law. The article, titled “‘Subject to the Jurisdiction Thereof’: The Indian Law Context”, examines the implications of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment on the status of Native peoples in the United States. 

Berger and her co-author, Gregory Ablavsky of Stanford Law, are two of the nation’s leading experts on federal Indian law. They delve into the historical meaning of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as 19th century debates centered on whether Native peoples—who were generally not considered citizens—were “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S. government. 

The Trump Administration has recently invoked these historical debates to question birthright citizenship, but Berger and Ablavsky argue that their interpretations misrepresent the original meaning of “jurisdiction” and overlook the unique context of federal Indian law.