Vance v. Terrazas | |
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Argued October 30, 1979 Decided January 15, 1980 | |
Full case name | Cyrus Vance, Secretary of State v. Laurence J. Terrazas |
Citations | 444 U.S. 252 (more) 100 S. Ct. 540; 62 L. Ed. 2d 461 |
Case history | |
Prior | Terrazas v. Vance, 577 F.2d 7 (7th Cir. 1978) |
Subsequent | Terrazas v. Muskie, 494 F. Supp. 1017 (N.D. Ill. 1980); Terrazas v. Haig, 653 F.2d 285 (7th Cir. 1981) |
Holding | |
An American cannot have his U.S. citizenship taken away against his will. Intent to give up citizenship needs to be established by itself and cannot be irrebuttably presumed merely because a person did something established by law as an action automatically causing loss of citizenship. However, Congress has power to decide that an intent to give up citizenship may be established by preponderance of evidence. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | White, joined by Burger, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist |
Concur/dissent | Marshall |
Concur/dissent | Stevens |
Dissent | Brennan, joined by Stewart (part II) |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amends. V, XIV; Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 |
Vance v. Terrazas, 444 U.S. 252 (1980), was a United States Supreme Court decision that established that a United States citizen cannot have their citizenship taken away unless they have acted with an intent to give up that citizenship. The Supreme Court overturned portions of an act of Congress which had listed various actions and had said that the performance of any of these actions could be taken as conclusive, irrebuttable proof of intent to give up U.S. citizenship. However, the Court ruled that a person's intent to give up citizenship could be established through a standard of preponderance of evidence (i.e., more likely than not) — rejecting an argument that intent to relinquish citizenship could only be found on the basis of clear, convincing and unequivocal evidence.[1][2]