TED HAYES
Founder, Justiceville
Mr. Citizen Patriot
Venice, California
June ___, 2026
The Honorable Yvette D. Clarke, Chair
Congressional Black Caucus
and Members of the Congressional Black Caucus
“The Conscious of Congress”
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C.
Re: A Respectful Appeal to the Congressional Black Caucus Concerning the Great 14th Amendment Moratorium and the Unfinished Questions of Reconstruction
Dear Chairwoman Clarke and Distinguished Members of the Congressional Black Caucus:
I write to you with profound respect and with an awareness of the unique place the Congressional Black Caucus occupies within American history.
For generations, the Caucus has described itself as the “Conscience of the Congress.”
As America approaches its 250th anniversary, I respectfully ask whether there has ever been a more fitting moment to exercise that calling.
At this extraordinary moment in our nation’s history, descendants of those Americans for whom Reconstruction’s remedial measures were principally enacted occupy remarkable positions throughout the institutions of the Republic.
On the Supreme Court sit Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, participating in the consideration of questions touching citizenship, Reconstruction, and constitutional identity.
Before that same Court, on March 18, 2026, the final day permitted for pro se amicus submissions, I submitted an appeal seeking examination of those same questions through the lens of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and its intended beneficiaries.
And within Congress itself sit the elected representatives of the Congressional Black Caucus, heirs to a political legacy stretching through the Civil Rights Movement, through Reconstruction, and ultimately to those generations who emerged from slavery seeking the full realization of liberty under law.
Seemingly, as Divine Providence, on the SCOTUS bench helping to decide this matter of whose citizenship rights, are two actual chattel slave descendants, and myself, via the Brief, also a son of America’s chattel slaves, now combine with you, The Conscious of Congress; clearly, this is perhaps, the ultimate time when as a body politic, you can really shine as such. The Triad of our relationship transcends partisan politics and unites us as the core element of America’s continued existence over its next 245 years. Let not this destined moment pass us by.
More than sixty years ago, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood before the nation and spoke of a promissory note—a promise made to a people who had too often received postponement instead of fulfillment.
Prophet, MLK admonishes us in “I Have A Dream”, to take such Promissory Note to the Palace of Justice to get it “cashed” into the necessary REMEDIAL, federal laws, of the now once “cut off”, reawakening, Reconstruction.
Today, a question stands before the nation concerning the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the constitutional identity of the people for whom those measures were principally enacted.
Whether one agrees with my conclusions or not is secondary to the larger point:
Has the nation ever fully examined that question? Has Congress? Has the legal profession? Have the universities?
Have the American people? Have the Civil-Rights organizations themselves?
As America enters its 250th year, I respectfully suggest that the answer is, at minimum, uncertain.
What better time than now to honor the memory of Abraham Lincoln, the preservation of the Union, the sacrifices of the Civil War generation, the service of the United States Colored Troops of the Civil War, in which 40,000 were killed, the aspirations of the twenty-three American African Congressional members of the Reconstruction, the hopes and prayers to GOD of our 245 years of enslaved ancestors?
Those early lawmakers entered public life believing they were helping to secure constitutional protections that would endure for generations yet unborn.
Whether their work was fully understood, fully implemented, or fully realized remains a matter worthy of serious examination.
That examination cannot be accomplished by a court decision alone.
It requires education, public discussion, historical inquiry, and national participation.
For that reason, I respectfully urge the Congressional Black Caucus to consider lending its moral leadership to a temporary educational moratorium concerning the Civil Rights Act of 1866, its intended beneficiaries, its remedial powers, and its relationship to the Fourteenth Amendment.
This is not a request for partisan advantage, nor a request for ideological conformity, nor a request that anyone agree with my conclusions.
It is simply a request that the nation pause long enough, a moratorium, to revisit one of the most consequential constitutional questions in its history before permanent conclusions are reached.
The Supreme Court has received a similar appeal.
The President of the United States has received a similar appeal.
Members of Congress have received a similar appeal.
Organizations such as the ACLU and NAACP will receive similar appeals.
But the Congressional Black Caucus occupies a unique place among them all.
You are not merely participants in the debate.
You are heirs to a legacy born from the very historical experience that gave rise to the debates of Reconstruction.
For that reason, your voice carries a special weight.
As America enters its next 250 years, I respectfully ask that the Congressional Black Caucus consider whether this may be one of those rare moments when the Conscience of Congress is called upon to help the nation better understand its own history.
For further discussion, historical documentation, legal analysis, 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