| Trop v. Dulles | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued May 2, 1957 Reargued October 28–29, 1957 Decided March 31, 1958 | |
| Full case name | Albert L. Trop v. John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State, et al. |
| Citations | 356 U.S. 86 (more) 78 S. Ct. 590; 2 L. Ed. 2d 630; 1958 U.S. LEXIS 1284 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Both District and Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trop's claim |
| Holding | |
| At least as applied in this case to a native-born citizen of the United States who did not voluntarily relinquish or abandon his citizenship or become involved in any way with a foreign nation, § 401(g) of the Nationality Act of 1940, as amended, which provides that a citizen "shall lose his nationality" by deserting the military or naval forces of the United States in time of war, provided he is convicted thereof by court martial and as a result of such conviction is dismissed or dishonorably discharged from the service, is unconstitutional. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Plurality | Warren, joined by Black, Douglas, Whittaker |
| Concurrence | Black, joined by Douglas |
| Concurrence | Brennan |
| Dissent | Frankfurter, joined by Burton, Clark, Harlan |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. VIII | |
Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86 (1958), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to revoke citizenship as a punishment for a crime. The ruling's reference to "evolving standards of decency" is frequently cited in Eighth Amendment jurisprudence.
Albert Trop was a natural born citizen of the United States who, while serving as a private in the United States Army in 1944, escaped from an Army stockade in Casablanca, Morocco. The next day, he willingly surrendered to an army officer and was taken back to the base, where he was subsequently court-martialed, convicted of desertion, and sentenced to three years at hard labor, forfeiture of pay, and a dishonorable discharge.
In 1952, Trop applied for a US passport, which was denied because §401(g) of the Nationality Act of 1940 provided that members of the armed forces of the United States who were convicted and dishonorably discharged for wartime desertion would lose their citizenship.[a]
Trop filed suit in US federal courts seeking declaratory judgment that he was a US citizen.
The US district court ruled in favor of the government, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the decision of the district court. The Supreme court granted certiorari. The petitioner was represented by Osmond K. Fraenkel.
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