Why America Should Pause Before Judgment
Every great nation eventually reaches moments that demand as much reflection as action.
Moments when the questions before it are so significant, and the consequences so far-reaching, that wisdom requires more than speed.
Wisdom requires examination. Wisdom requires patience. Wisdom requires the courage to pause long enough to ensure that the foundation beneath a decision is as sound as the decision itself.
America now stands at such a moment.
As the Nation approaches the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, one of the most consequential constitutional controversies of the modern era stands before the Republic.
Questions concerning citizenship, immigration, constitutional identity, national sovereignty, and the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment have returned to the forefront of public debate.
Many demand immediate answers. Many demand immediate action.
Yet before judgment comes inquiry. Before consequence comes due process.
Before precedent comes certainty. Those principles are not obstacles to justice.
They are the safeguards of justice.
A Question That Refuses to Disappear
The present controversy has focused enormous attention upon the words, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
For generations, those words have served as the center of a national debate. Yet a question continues to present itself.
What if America has been asking the wrong constitutional question?
Not the wrong answer. The wrong question.
What if the controversy has focused on the constitutional lock while giving insufficient attention to the constitutional structure that preceded it?
What if the Nation has spent decades debating conclusions while never fully examining the foundation upon which those conclusions rest?
That possibility alone deserves serious consideration.
For if the premise is uncertain, prudence requires examination before judgment.
The Responsibility of the Present Generation
Every generation inherits unfinished work.
The generation of 1776 inherited the challenge of establishing a Republic.
The generation that inherited the Civil War faced the challenge of preserving the Union.
The generation of Reconstruction inherited the challenge of securing liberty through law.
The present generation has inherited the responsibility of understanding that constitutional settlement and determining what it means for America today.
That responsibility cannot be fulfilled through slogans.
It cannot be fulfilled through political passions alone. It cannot be fulfilled through assumptions.
It requires examination. It requires study. It requires honesty.
Most importantly, it requires a willingness to ask difficult questions before insisting upon final answers.
Why a Moratorium Is Necessary
The proposed Constitutional Moratorium is not a demand for a particular outcome.
It is not an attempt to predetermine a judicial decision. It is not an attack upon immigrants.
It is not an attack upon the courts. It is not an attack upon constitutional government.
It is a request for constitutional diligence.
A request that the Nation pause long enough to determine whether the foundational constitutional question has been properly identified.
If the prevailing interpretation is correct, examination will strengthen it.
If the prevailing interpretation is incomplete, examination may improve it.
If the prevailing interpretation rests upon a mistaken premise, examination may prevent a historic error.
Truth loses nothing from scrutiny. Only error fears investigation.
A Call to the Institutions of the Republic
This appeal is respectfully directed to the institutions entrusted with preserving constitutional government.
It is directed to the Supreme Court of the United States, whose decisions shape the constitutional life of the Nation.
It is directed to the President of the United States, who bears responsibility for faithfully executing the laws.
It is directed to the Congress of the United States, whose constitutional role in Reconstruction and citizenship remains central to the history under examination.
It is directed to civil-rights organizations, scholars, educators, journalists, clergy, and citizens.
And it is directed to We the People, whose confidence in constitutional government depends upon the belief that fundamental questions have been honestly examined before historic judgments are rendered.
The request is simple.
Pause. Examine. Clarify. Then decide.
The Opportunity of the 250th Year
Few nations receive an opportunity such as this.
The 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is more than a celebration of the past.
It is an invitation to reflect upon the future.
The Nation now has an opportunity to revisit one of the most consequential constitutional chapters in its history and ensure that its foundations are fully understood before entering the next quarter-millennium.
That opportunity should not be squandered. History rarely offers such moments twice.
Before The Judgment
The purpose of the Great Moratorium is not to avoid judgment.
The purpose is to ensure that judgment rests upon understanding.
The purpose is to ensure that examination precedes conclusion.
The purpose is to ensure that the Nation has fully tested the foundation before building upon it.
For if America has been asking the right constitutional question, examination will confirm it.
If America has been asking an incomplete constitutional question, examination will improve it.
And if America has been asking the wrong constitutional question, examination may reveal one of the most important constitutional discoveries of the Republic’s third century.
That possibility alone justifies a pause.
And that pause, respectfully requested, is The Great 14th Amendment Moratorium.