Mandoli v. Acheson, Secretary of State (344 U.S. 133)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided November 24, 1952 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 344 U.S. 133 · 73 S. Ct. 135
- Docket
- No. 15
- Argued
- October 17, 1952
- Decided
- November 24, 1952
- Term
- October Term 1952
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Jackson (R.H.)
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Justice Minton, Justice Burton, Justice R. H. Jackson (wrote), Justice Frankfurter, Justice Black
- Dissenting
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Clark, Justice Douglas (wrote), Justice Reed
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Jackson delivered the opinion of the Court. This case presents but a single question, upon which petitioner and the Government are substantially agreed that the judgment of the Court of Appeals should be reversed. Does a United States citizen by birth who by foreign law derives from his parents citizenship of a foreign nation lose his United States citizenship by foreign residence long continued after attaining his majority? Petitioner Mandoli was born in this country, of un-naturalized Italian parents. These circumstances made him a citizen of the United States by virtue of our Constitution and a national of Italy by virtue of Italian law. While he was a suckling, his parents returned to Italy taking him with them. At about the age of fifteen, he sought to come to the United States; but permission was refused by the American Consul at Palermo upon the ground that he was too young to take the journey unaccompanied. In 1931, Mandoli saw brief service in the Italian army. In 1937, being 29 or 30 years of age, he attempted to come to the United States, but was rejected because of such army service. He renewed the effort in 1944, with the same result. In 1948, he was granted a certificate of identity which permitted him to enter the United States for prosecution of an action to establish his citizenship. Judgment in the District Court went against him on the ground…
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