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Flores-Villar v. United States

Court Type: U.S. Supreme Court
Status: Closed (Judgment)
Last Update: June 13, 2011

What's at Stake

Whether the government may constitutionally make it more difficult for citizen fathers than citizen mothers to transmit citizenship to their out-of-wedlock children born outside the U.S.

U.S. law makes it more difficult for citizen fathers than citizen mothers to transmit citizenship to their children born outside the country. In this case, it was literally impossible for the citizen father to meet the additional residency requirements imposed on fathers. Focusing on the appropriate standard of review, the ACLU amicus brief argues that this gender discrimination is properly subject to heightened scrutiny, which it cannot survive.

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