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Zivotofsky V. Kerry: A Foreign Relations Law Bonanza, Ingrid Wuerth Brunk

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This short paper on Zivotofsky v. Kerry gives an overview of the case and analyzes its significance for international law in constitutional interpretation and for the Supreme Court’s “normalization” of foreign relations law.

In terms of the overall significance of the case, it is a bonanza of foreign relations issues and doctrine: the executive Vesting Clause, the President as the “sole organ” of the nation, the need for the nation to speak with “one voice,” Curtiss-Wright, Youngstown, diplomatic history and practice, the Republic of Texas, secrecy and dispatch, Citizen Genet, the Spanish-American war, international law in constitutional interpretation, formalism and …