Honors Theses
Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
History
First Advisor
Douglass Sullivan-Gonzalez
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
This thesis studies the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on the issue of constitutional personhood and its historical lack of clarity and uniformity. I focus on three groups of persons who historically and frequently bring claims of constitutional protection before the Court: aliens, children, and felons. Across these three classes of claimants, case analysis shows that the Court lacks a clear framework for answering questions of constitutional personhood, instead relying on an individualistic approach in their decision-making, rendering a defined understanding of constitutional personhood impossible. I argue that the Court's current methods of decision- making produce inequality and second-class citizenship, and further, that it is necessary for the Supreme Court to adopt a defined approach to constitutional personhood claims moving forward. Constitutional law and the Supreme Court's future decisions will become increasingly convoluted and baseless without modification to their individualized approach.
Recommended Citation
Jennings, Emma, "We the People: An Analysis of the Supreme Court's Jurisprudence Relating to Constitutional Personhood" (2017). Honors Theses. 317.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/317
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