Full case name Schneider v. Rusk Majority Douglas | Subsequent history None End date 1964 | |
Citations 377 U.S. 163 (more)
84 S. Ct. 1187; 12 L. Ed. 2d 218; 1964 U.S. LEXIS 1275 Prior history Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Dissent Clark, joined by Harlan, White Similar Afroyim v Rusk, Kawakita v United States, United States v Wong Ki, Frontiero v Richardson, Bolling v Sharpe | ||
Schneider v. Rusk, 377 U.S. 163 (1964), was a United States Supreme Court case which invalidated a law that treated naturalized and native-born citizens differentially under the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.
Contents
Background
Angelika Schneider was born in Germany. She came to the US with her parents and became a United States citizen upon their naturalization at age 16. When she graduated from college, she moved back to Germany.
The State Department claimed Schneider had lost her US citizenship in accordance with a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act which revoked the citizenship of any naturalized citizen who returned to his or her country of birth and remained there for at least three years.
Opinion
The Supreme Court held that since no provision of the law stripped natural-born Americans of their citizenship as a result of extended or permanent residence abroad, it was unconstitutionally discriminatory to apply such a rule only to naturalized citizens.