{"id":2680588,"date":"2026-10-10T10:21:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T14:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/constitutional-attorney-a-federal-judge-just-said-congress-cant-ban-noncitizen-voting-hes-dead-wrong\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T10:31:50","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T14:31:50","slug":"constitutional-attorney-a-federal-judge-just-said-congress-cant-ban-noncitizen-voting-hes-dead-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/constitutional-attorney-a-federal-judge-just-said-congress-cant-ban-noncitizen-voting-hes-dead-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Constitutional Attorney: A Federal Judge Just Said Congress Can&#8217;t Ban Noncitizen Voting &#8211; He&#8217;s Dead Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fconstitutional-attorney-a-federal-judge-just-said-congress-cant-ban-noncitizen-voting-hes-dead-wrong%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2680588&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>This webpage contains a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wife-of-slain-deputy-ripped-walz-in-pointed-phone-clash-threatened-to-escort-your-a-out-if-he-showed-at-funeral\/\" title=\"Wife of Slain Deputy Ripped Walz in Pointed Phone Clash, Threatened to \u2018Escort Your A** Out&#039; if He Showed at Funeral\">lengthy article discussing<\/a> a legal case and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-creates-constitutional-crisis-to-be-cured-by-scotus\/\" title=\"Judge Creates ...al Crisis To Be Cured By SCOTUS\">constitutional principles related<\/a> to voting rights in the United States. It highlights a specific case, United States v. Cox, where a noncitizen was prosecuted for voting federally, but the charge was dismissed by Judge Leibowitz, who argued that congress lacked constitutional authority to prohibit noncitizens from voting. the article critiques Leibowitz\u2019s interpretation, emphasizing that both federal and state authorities have roles governed by the Constitution. It explores the past context of citizenship and voting rights, referencing Federalist No. 42 and amendments, to illustrate that the Constitution balances state authority with federal oversight. The writer warns against overextending state control over voter qualifications, stressing that the Constitution ensures citizenship and voting rights have a coherent national meaning, which is essential for a functioning Union. The article concludes by cautioning that misunderstood interpretations of federalism could threaten this balance, advocating for respecting constitutional boundaries to maintain clarity and unity in American citizenship and voting rights.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Federal law makes it a crime, with limited exceptions, for a noncitizen to vote in an election involving candidates for federal office.<\/p>\n<p>In United States v. Cox, the federal government prosecuted a noncitizen under that law, 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 611, for allegedly voting in a federal election.<\/p>\n<p>Federal Judge David Leibowitz dismissed the charge, holding that Congress lacked constitutional authority to prohibit her from voting. His reasoning was that the Constitution gives the states, rather than Congress, authority to determine who is qualified to vote.<\/p>\n<p>At first glance, that conclusion rests upon a sound principle of federalism, but Leibowitz\u2019s fatal flaw, if followed, establishes serious and destructive consequences.<\/p>\n<p>The Constitution does give the states substantial authority to establish voter qualifications, and Congress has no general power to dictate them. However, Leibowitz takes that principle one step further, concluding that the states therefore possess \u201cexclusive authority\u201d over voter qualifications.<\/p>\n<p>That is where the constitutional error begins. Congress\u2019s limited authority does not make state authority unlimited.<\/p>\n<p>That distinction is the heart of Cox. The question cannot be reduced to whether Congress or the states control voter qualifications because both operate beneath the Constitution, which is a higher authority.<\/p>\n<p>Citizenship is where that distinction becomes critical, and history explains why.<\/p>\n<p>In 1777, under the Articles of Confederation, states maintained different standards concerning citizenship and residence, while Article IV required recognition of privileges belonging to the \u201cfree inhabitants\u201d and \u201cfree citizens\u201d of other states.<\/p>\n<p>One state\u2019s decision about citizenship could therefore produce consequences in another.<\/p>\n<p>James Madison explained the problem in Federalist No. 42. One state could admit an alien to citizenship under requirements another state rejected, and that person could then enter the second state claiming rights its laws would not have granted him.<\/p>\n<p>Madison described the result as one state\u2019s law becoming \u201cpreposterously\u201d paramount within another state\u2019s jurisdiction and warned that only \u201cmere casualty\u201d had prevented \u201cvery serious embarrassments.\u201d The Framers had lived under that system and learned from it.<\/p>\n<p>To solve this \u201cembarrassing\u201d confusion, the Constitution preserved substantial state authority over voter qualifications, but then used Article I, Section 2 to tie qualifications for House electors to those established for electors of the most numerous branch of each state legislature.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the Constitution gave Congress authority to establish a \u201cuniform Rule of Naturalization.\u201d The Fourteenth Amendment later established national citizenship explicitly, while the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Sixth Amendments placed further constitutional boundaries upon government authority over voting.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, the Constitution preserves state authority without leaving the meaning and consequences of citizenship entirely to state discretion.<\/p>\n<p>This history exposes the fatal flaw in Leibowitz\u2019s logic. He presents two choices: either Congress determines voter qualifications or the states do.<\/p>\n<p>That is a false dichotomy because it leaves out the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>He then reasons that because Congress lacks general authority to establish voter qualifications, the states possess exclusive authority.<\/p>\n<p>That conclusion does not follow. The Constitution can deny Congress a general power while still placing limits upon state authority. The Constitution gives citizenship national significance and repeatedly recognizes voting rights belonging to citizens.<\/p>\n<p>Congress possesses specifically granted legislative powers over these issues, and Article II requires the Executive to faithfully execute constitutional federal law. Both remain subject to the Constitution, just as the states do.<\/p>\n<p>Leibowitz\u2019s reasoning risks returning us to a problem America has already experienced. If the political consequences of citizenship can mean fundamentally different things from state to state when choosing federal officers, citizenship begins to lose coherent national meaning.<\/p>\n<p>Membership in one Union again carries different consequences depending upon which state supplies the rule. The Framers governed under the Articles, experienced its defects, and designed the Constitution with those lessons before them.<\/p>\n<p>Misusing the Tenth Amendment to recreate that political confusion ignores both the history and the constitutional structure that emerged from it.<\/p>\n<p>Citizenship must mean something. The Framers learned that a Union cannot function when the meaning and consequences of citizenship depend entirely upon the state in which a person happens to stand.<\/p>\n<p>Their solution preserved state authority within a constitutional structure binding upon both state and federal governments.<\/p>\n<p>Leibowitz mistakes limited federal power for unlimited state power, distorting federalism in a way that risks returning us to a constitutional problem we already solved.<\/p>\n<p>The solution remains the one the Constitution provides: respect the authority reserved to the states, enforce the powers granted to the federal government, and require both to remain within their constitutional boundaries.<\/p>\n<p>Madison warned us where that road leads. The Constitution reflects what we learned from traveling it.<\/p>\n<p>We should reject Leibowitz\u2019s misplaced logic before it carries us back toward a problem the Constitution was designed to correct. The lessons of our history should guide us forward, not become mistakes we are condemned to repeat.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><i><b>The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either d or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/submitop-ed\/\">here<\/a>.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal law criminalizes noncitizen voting in federal elections, with few exceptions. In United States v. Cox, the government prosecuted a noncitizen under 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 611 for allegedly voting federally. Judge Leibowitz dismissed the case, arguing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2680589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-10-09T203246.441.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[43482,33791,36218,36987,32570],"class_list":["post-2680588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-constitutional-law","tag-federal-judge","tag-legal-analysis","tag-noncitizen-voting","tag-voting-rights"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-10-09T203246.441.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2680588"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2680598,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680588\/revisions\/2680598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2680589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2680588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2680588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2680588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}