Ave Maria School of Law welcomed nationally recognized constitutional lawyer Charles J. Cooper to campus for a Federalist Society event examining Trump v. Barbara, birthright citizenship and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.

Cooper, chairman and founding partner of Cooper & Kirk, has argued nine cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and previously served as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel during the Reagan administration. He also clerked for then-Justice William H. Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court.

During his presentation, Cooper explored the history and development of the Citizenship Clause, including its relationship to the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the meaning of the constitutional phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

Cooper discussed competing interpretations of the Citizenship Clause and examined historical sources and Supreme Court precedent, including United States v. Wong Kim Ark, as he outlined his perspective on the constitutional questions at issue in Trump v. Barbara.

Following his remarks, students had the opportunity to ask Cooper questions about the decision, constitutional interpretation, congressional authority and the ways in which Supreme Court precedent develops over time.

The Federalist Society event provided Ave Maria Law students with an opportunity to hear directly from an experienced Supreme Court advocate and engage with the constitutional questions surrounding a significant recent case.