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As I have mentioned elsewhere, in the DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA v. HELLER (2007) ruling, Justice Scalia, in writing the Opinion of the Court, said:

“Timothy Cunningham’s important 1771 legal dictionary defined “arms” as “any thing that a man wears for his defence, or takes into his hands, or useth in wrath to cast at or strike another.” 1 A New and Complete Law Dictionary (1771);”

That certainly is a glowing endorsement from the SCOTUS for Cunningham’s law dictionary and adds legal weight to using the definitions contained therein when attempting to understand the original intent of the Framers when they drafted the Constitution.

John Adams’ archived copy is here:

Vol. 1:

http://www.archive.org/download/newcompletelawdi01cunn/newcompletelawdi01cunn.pdf

Vol. 2:

http://www.archive.org/download/newcompletelawdi01cunn/newcompletelawdi02cunn.pdf

Vol 1 of Cunningham’s law dictionary states the following under the Alien section (page 96 of the pdf, 3rd column, 3rd paragraph from the bottom) :

“All those are natural born subjects whose parents, at the time of their birth, were under the actual obedience of our King, and whose place of birth was within his dominions.”

(Note: I modernized the Old English spellings for easier reading).

So, my understanding is that if the SCOTUS used Cunningham’s law dictionary in D.C. v. Heller to determine original intent, then, logically, they have set a precedence for using Cunningham’s law dictionary for said purpose of determining original intent!

Furthermore, recent SCOTUS rulings cite Thomas Bacon’s law book “A New Abridgment of the Law.”

PLIVA, INC. v. MENSING (Justice Thomas writing the Opinion for the Court).

And,

DWAYNE GILES, PETITIONER v. CALIFORNIA (Justice Scalia writing the Opinion for the Court)

John Adams’ personal copy is archived here:

http://www.archive.org/download/newabridgementof01baco/newabridgementof01baco.pdf

http://www.archive.org/download/newabridgementof02baco/newabridgementof02baco.pdf

http://www.archive.org/download/newabridgementof03baco/newabridgementof03baco.pdf

http://www.archive.org/download/newabridgementof04baco/newabridgementof04baco.pdf

http://www.archive.org/download/newabridgementof05baco/newabridgementof05baco.pdf

Page 77 of Vol. 1 contains the exact same definition of Natural Born as Cunningham’s Law Dictionary!

Ergo, the current SCOTUS is well aware that the Founders understood Natural Born to be born on American soil to parents who were themselves American Citizens.

Cheers