Afroyim v. Rusk

Summary

The Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment prevents Congress from involuntarily stripping an American citizen of citizenship acquired by birth or naturalization. Because the petitioner voted in an Israeli election but never voluntarily relinquished his citizenship, the statute could not constitutionally authorize the loss of his citizenship, and the judgment was reversed. Justice Harlan, dissenting, would have upheld the statute on the ground that Congress possessed authority to expatriate citizens under its constitutional powers.