Professor Chin Authors Commentary for CNN
Professor Gabriel "Jack" Chin has published a commentary on CNN.com on the meaning of the constitutional provision that only "natural born citizens" of the United States may serve as president.
Chin said that the exact meaning of the phrase is unclear, leading to some controversy over whether someone like Senator Ted Cruz, who was born in Canada to a U.S. citizen mother and Cuban immigrant father, would be eligible should he decide to run.
"Indeed, the phrase is so obscure that it has been called the Constitution's worst provision by the dean of the Yale Law School," writes Chin. "But it is likely that Cruz is a natural born citizen, because he was a citizen by birth. In any event, even if there were some question, the courts are unlikely to interfere with the decisions of the electorate about who we want as our president."
Gabriel "Jack" Chin, who joined the King Hall faculty in 2011, is a prolific and much-cited criminal and immigration law scholar whose work has addressed many of the most pressing social issues of our time.