Theodore Olson has become the attorney for a group of plaintiffs who were born in America Samoa, and thus are not citizens unless they go through the naturalization process. The case has already lost in the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Olson joined the case and has won permission from the U.S. Supreme Court to file the cert petition by February 1, 2016 (otherwise, the cert petition would have been due January 2, 2016).
The Samoans include residents of the various states. They cannot vote, unless they use the naturalization process. See this story. Persons born in other territories are citizens because Congress passed laws long ago making them citizens, but Congress has never done that for American Samoans. The plaintiffs argue that the 14th amendment makes them citizens automatically. The 14th amendment says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Olson represented George W. Bush in Bush v Gore in 2000. See this story. The case is Tuaua v U.S.
Since American Samoa is “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” the United States you’d think that they have a very good case. The curious aspect is that this has not come up before.
The Republic of Panama is also “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”, but
is not in the United States. John McCain III was born in the Republic of
Panama to an unwed mother, that was at the time of his born in the Coco Solo Hospital in the Republic of Panama an not an employee of the United
States Government or the successor to the Panama Canal Railroad Company.
The status of Swain Island (an incorporated Guano Island an appertaining
island to the United States is governed by American Samoa.