Justice, Supremes confirm getting eligibility challenge

Orly Taitz

The U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Justice Department today confirmed that documentation challenging Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president has arrived and soon will be evaluated.

Confirmation came from Defend Our Freedoms, the foundation through which California attorney Orly Taitz has been working on a number of cases that raise questions over Obama’s qualification to be president under the Constitution’s demand that the office be occupied only by a “natural born” citizen.

Taitz was informed by Karen Thornton of the Department of Justice that all of the case documents and filings have arrived and have been forwarded to the Office of Solicitor General Elena Kagan, including three dossiers and the Quo Warranto case.

“Coincidently, after Dr. Taitz called me with that update, she received another call from Officer Giaccino at the Supreme Court,” the website posting said. “Officer Giaccino stated both pleadings have been received and [are] being analyzed now.”

The report from the Supreme Court said the documents that Taitz hand-delivered to Chief Justice John Roberts at his appearance at the University of Idaho a little over a week ago also were at the Supreme Court.

WND has reported on dozens of legal challenges to Obama’s status as a “natural born citizen.” The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.”

Where’s
the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S. or that he fulfills the
“natural-born American” clause in the Constitution? If you still want
to see it, join more than 340,000 others and sign up now!

Some of the legal challenges question whether he was actually born in Hawaii, as he insists. If he was born out of the country, Obama’s American mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time.

Other challenges have focused on Obama’s citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. The cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born.

Further, others question his citizenship by virtue of his attendance in Indonesian schools during his childhood and question on what passport did he travel to Pakistan three decades ago.

Adding fuel to the fire is Obama’s persistent refusal to release documents that could provide answers. While his supporters cite an online version of a “Certification of Live Birth” from Hawaii, critics point out such documents actually were issued for children not born in the state.

WND reported earlier on a proposal by U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., and the criticism he’s taking for suggesting that the issue be avoided in the future by having presidential candidates supply their birth certificate.

U.S. Rep. Bill Posey

“What you should do is stop embarrassing yourself and take the Reynolds Wrap off your head,” MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann suggested to Posey.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, has asserted Posey’s judgment is skewed.

“The citizenship of someone who has reached the point of running for president of the United States is not really an issue,” Abercrombie said.

Posey said he made the suggestion because he’s seeking the truth, and “the more and more I get called names by leftwing activists, partisan hacks and political operatives for doing it, the more and more I think I did the right thing.”

Hawaiian officials have confirmed they have a birth certificate on file for Obama, but it cannot be released without his permission, and they have not revealed the information it contains.

John Eidsmoe, an expert on the U.S. Constitution working with the Foundation on Moral Law, told WND a demand for verification of Obama’s eligibility appears to be legitimate.

Eidsmoe said it’s clear that Obama has something in the documentation of his history, including his birth certificate, college records and other documents that “he does not want the public to know.”

Officials for the Obama campaign repeatedly have refused to comment on the questions, relenting only once to call the concerns “garbage.”

Other members of Congress have been reading from what appears to be a prepared script in response to queries about Obama’s eligibility:

Among the statements from members of Congress:

• Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.: “Thank you for your recent e-mail. Senator Obama meets the constitutional requirements for presidential office. Rumors pertaining to his citizenship status have been circulating on the Internet, and this information has been debunked by Snopes.com, which investigates the truth behind Internet rumors.”
• Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.: “Presidential candidates are vetted by voters at least twice – first in the
  primary elections and again in the general election. President-Elect Obama
  won the Democratic Party’s nomination after one of the most fiercely
  contested presidential primaries in American history. And, he has now been
  duly elected by the majority of voters in the United States. Throughout both
  the primary and general election, concerns about Mr. Obama’s birthplace were
  raised. The voters have made clear their view that Mr. Obama meets the
  qualifications to hold the office of president.”

• Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio: “President Obama has provided several news organizations with a copy of his
  birth certificate, showing he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4,
  1961. Hawaii became a state in 1959, and all individuals born in Hawaii
  after its admission are considered natural-born United States citizens. In
  addition, the Hawaii State Health Department recently issued a public
  statement verifying the authenticity of President Obama’s birth certificate.”

• U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J.: “The claim that President Obama was born outside of the United States, thus rendering him ineligible for the presidency, is part of a larger number of pernicious and factually baseless claims that were circulated about then-Senator Obama during his presidential campaign. President Obama was born in Hawaii.” The response provided no documentation.

Taitz had approached Justice Antonin Scalia during his appearance in Los Angeles before meeting with Roberts at his Idaho appearance. She’s suggested that there was misbehavior at the Supreme Court because some of her earlier papers were not filed properly, nor were they returned to her.

Hers was just one of the issues reportedly presented to the Supreme Court justices in conference for an evaluation on whether a hearing should be held. No hearing ever has been held at that level on the evidence involved. Her Quo Warranto case is pending at the Justice Department. It essentially raises a demand for proof by what authority Obama has assumed the powers of president.

Here is a partial listing and status update for some of the cases over Obama’s eligibility:

• New Jersey attorney Mario Apuzzo has filed a case on behalf of Charles Kerchner and others alleging Congress didn’t properly ascertain that Obama is qualified to hold the office of president.
• Pennsylvania Democrat Philip Berg has three cases pending, including Berg vs. Obama in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a separate Berg vs. Obama which is under seal at the U.S. District Court level and Hollister vs. Soetoro a/k/a Obama, (now dismissed) brought on behalf of a retired military member who could be facing recall to active duty by Obama.
• Leo Donofrio of New Jersey filed a lawsuit claiming Obama’s dual citizenship disqualified him from serving as president. His case was considered in conference by the U.S. Supreme Court but denied a full hearing.
• Cort Wrotnowski filed suit against Connecticut’s secretary of state, making a similar argument to Donofrio. His case was considered in conference by the U.S. Supreme Court, but was denied a full hearing.
• Former presidential candidate Alan Keyes headlines a list of people filing a suit in California, in a case handled by the United States Justice Foundation, that asks the secretary of state to refuse to allow the state’s 55 Electoral College votes to be cast in the 2008 presidential election until Obama verifies his eligibility to hold the office. The case is pending, and lawyers are seeking the public’s support.
• Chicago attorney Andy Martin sought legal action requiring Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle to release Obama’s vital statistics record. The case was dismissed by Hawaii Circuit Court Judge Bert Ayabe.
• Lt. Col. Donald Sullivan sought a temporary restraining order to stop the Electoral College vote in North Carolina until Barack Obama’s eligibility could be confirmed, alleging doubt about Obama’s citizenship. His case was denied.
• In Ohio, David M. Neal sued to force the secretary of state to request documents from the Federal Elections Commission, the Democratic National Committee, the Ohio Democratic Party and Obama to show the presidential candidate was born in Hawaii. The case was denied.
• Also in Ohio, there was the Greenberg v. Brunner case which ended when the judge threatened to assess all case costs against the plaintiff.
• In Washington state, Steven Marquis sued the secretary of state seeking a determination on Obama’s citizenship. The case was denied.
• In Georgia, Rev. Tom Terry asked the state Supreme Court to authenticate Obama’s birth certificate. His request for an injunction against Georgia’s secretary of state was denied by Georgia Superior Court Judge Jerry W. Baxter.
• California attorney Orly Taitz has brought a case, Lightfoot vs. Bowen, on behalf of Gail Lightfoot, the vice presidential candidate on the ballot with Ron Paul, four electors and two registered voters.

In addition, other cases cited on the RightSideofLife blog as raising questions about Obama’s eligibility include:

• In Texas, Darrel Hunter vs. Obama later was dismissed.
• In Ohio, Gordon Stamper vs. U.S. later was dismissed.
• In Texas, Brockhausen vs. Andrade.
• In Washington, L. Charles Cohen vs. Obama.
• In Hawaii, Keyes vs. Lingle, dismissed.

 

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