In the 1860’s, the Supreme Court was a ‘partisan creature’ and President Lincoln and the Republican Party remade it so that it reflected the party’s priorities.
If upheld, a federal court ruling would solidify birthright citizenship as the law of the land, and overturn more than a century of federal refusal to grant American Samoans citizenship status.
Contentious or politically driven Supreme Court nominations are not new. But US history shows that many of those contested nominees who were confirmed would go on to author controversial opinions.