Welcome to Season 4, Episode 4, Listeners! We're kicking off the first of three installments dealing with the 14th Amendment.  Although it has five sections, the first section is the one that really packs a punch in terms of concepts and case law.  So the first two installments of the 14th Amendment address Section 1, and then installment 3 will take on the remaining clauses.

The 14th Amendment was passed just after the Civil War, along with the 13th and 15th Amendments, during the "Reconstruction Era" in the United States.  Post-war America was grappling with racism, particularly in the South.  These three Amendments were passed to address the treatment of African Americans and freed slaves, which was wildly inconsistent from state to state.  Congress tried addressing it with the Civil Rights Act of 1866, but ultimately, the 14th Amendment was necessary.  But the 14th Amendment doesn't specifically address race - it's broader than that.

Let's start with the …