AN APPEAL FOR THE GREAT, 14TH AMENDMENT MORATORIUM
Ted Hayes
Founder, Justiceville
Mr. Citizen Patriot
Venice, California
June ___, 2026
The Honorable Todd Blanche
Attorney General of the United States
The Honorable D. John Sauer
Solicitor General of the United States
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
Re: A Respectful Appeal Concerning the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Reconstruction, and the Department of Justice’s Historic Mission
Dear Attorney General Blanche and Solicitor General Sauer:
I write with great respect for the responsibilities entrusted to the Department of Justice and for the role recently undertaken by the Solicitor General in presenting the federal government’s position before the Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara, case 25-365.
This correspondence is not intended to challenge the integrity of that effort. Rather, it is intended to encourage reflection on a broader historical question that I believe deserves renewed national attention before final adjudication.
The Department of Justice occupies a unique place in the present discussion.
Unlike the Supreme Court, which must decide cases, or Congress, which writes laws, the Department of Justice was itself born from the Reconstruction era, whose meaning is now being debated.
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Reconstruction Amendments, and the Enforcement Acts represented an extraordinary effort by the nation to secure liberty, citizenship, and equal protection following the abolition of slavery.
The Department of Justice emerged from that same historical environment.
Indeed, as part of the continuing effort to secure the citizenship and civil rights of the Freedmen—the only Americans militarily liberated from 245 years of chattel slavery and then federalized through Reconstruction—the Department of Justice was created in 1870 under the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant.
Its creation was closely tied to the enforcement of Reconstruction’s promises, including protection against intimidation, disenfranchisement, racial violence, and denial of rights, particularly the voting rights secured by the Fifteenth Amendment.
In a very real sense, the Department stands as one of the institutional descendants of Reconstruction. Like never in its 156 years existence, this is the very moment for which the DOJ was created. There is no greater time than NOW.
For that reason, I respectfully suggest that the Department possesses a unique interest in ensuring that the historical foundations of Reconstruction are fully understood before the nation reaches permanent conclusions concerning their meaning and application.
The question presented in Trump v. Barbara has been widely discussed as a Fourteenth Amendment controversy.
Yet many Americans remain unaware of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the legislation that preceded the Amendment and formed part of the broader Reconstruction framework from which many modern understandings of citizenship emerged.
Whether one agrees or disagrees with my interpretation of those events is not the point of this appeal.
The larger concern is that the American people have rarely been invited to examine the relationship between the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment in any meaningful public manner.
Universities seldom address it. Media discussions rarely explore it. Public officials seldom mention it. Most Americans have never heard the debate at all, particularly those who are at the center of the matter, African Americans, descendants of America’s chattel slaves, federalized citizens.
As America enters its 250th year, I respectfully submit that a temporary educational moratorium would serve the interests of understanding, regardless of where one ultimately stands on the legal questions involved.
Such a moratorium would not prevent eventual adjudication.
It would simply permit broader national examination before permanent conclusions are reached.
I have conveyed similar appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States, the President of the United States, Members of Congress, and civil-rights organizations whose histories intersect with these issues.
My purpose is not to secure a victory for one side over another.
My purpose is to encourage a fuller understanding of the Reconstruction settlement before its meaning is further defined.
As Attorney General and Solicitor General, you occupy offices whose institutional roots reach directly into the period now under discussion.
For that reason, I respectfully ask that you consider whether the Department of Justice might appropriately encourage, support, or participate in a broader national educational examination of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, its intended beneficiaries, its remedial purposes, and its relationship to the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Department of Justice was created to help secure the promises of Reconstruction.
Surely there can be no harm in helping the nation better understand those promises before determining their modern application.
For further historical documentation, legal analysis, constitutional discussion, and supporting materials, I respectfully refer you to the accompanying work:
The Great 14th Amendment Moratorium Papers
America can survive disagreement. It cannot long thrive upon misunderstanding.
Education Before Adjudication. Understanding Before Division.
Truth Before Consequence.
Respectfully submitted,
Ted Hayes
Founder, Justiceville
Mr. Citizen Patriot
Enclosure:
The Great 14th Amendment Moratorium Papers
Education Before Adjudication