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The Fifteenth Amendment Goes to Guam

Document Type

Blog Posting

Language

English (en)

Publication Date

2020

Publication Title

Election Law Blog

Abstract

The Supreme Court denied cert in Guam v. Davis. The question presented was whether the Fifteenth Amendment permits Guam to limit the right to vote in a plebiscite to “native inhabitants of Guam.” The Ninth Circuit invalidated this suffrage restriction on Fifteenth Amendment grounds. Although Davis is a rare case raising a Fifteenth Amendment claim, the Court properly denied cert because the decision below was correctly decided and in accordance with Supreme Court precedent. In this post, I’ll unpack the Davis decision and explain its relevance to Fifteenth Amendment jurisprudence.

Keywords

Guam v. Davis, Fifteenth Amendment, Constitutional Law, Voting Rights, Election Law

Publication Citation

Travis Crum, The Fifteenth Amendment Goes to Guam, Election Law Blog (May 4, 2020), https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111157

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