Document Type
Student Note
Abstract
The Constitution’s extraterritorial scope does not arise often in litigation. Two recent decisions broached the issue. Both arrived at opposite conclusions. And these decisions share a common thread: They confuse more than they clarify while begetting novel questions of law. Does the Constitution protect noncitizens abroad? If so, how? If not, why not? This Note addresses each of these questions in turn. Ultimately, this Note concludes that the Constitution does not have any extraterritorial application whatsoever to noncitizens abroad.
Recommended Citation
Brendan O. Beutell,
Hard Cases Make Bad Law: Extraterritorial Application of the United States Constitution,
122
W. Va. L. Rev.
(2019).
Available at:
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/wvlr/vol122/iss2/9