Obama citizenship case on Supreme Court docket
Staff Reporter | Posted December 4, 2008 12:50 PM
The challenge to Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship will be on the Court's docket for Friday.
The Court will decide on Friday whether to consider a New Jersey case against Obama that charges the president-elect has not demonstrated his U.S. citizenship, as required by the Constitution.
The case, Donofrio v. Wells, was filed by Leo C. Donofrio against New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells and heard by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
On Monday, November 3, an application (08A407) for a "stay pending the filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari" was submitted to liberal Justice David Souter, who denied the request on November 6.
A week after Souter's rejection of the case, the application was refiled and submitted to Justice Clarence Thomas. Instead of rejecting the application, Thomas distributed it to his colleagues, and the issue was scheduled for conference on Friday, December 5. A brief from Donofrio was filed the day before Thanksgiving and the conference is not set to take place, according to official Court records.
The New Jersey case is one of several challenges to Obama's election, including a federal suit by Philip Berg from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Pennsylvania, and one by former presidential candidate Alan Keyes in California. The Supreme Court refused to hear the Berg case after the lower court held that the plaintiff lacked standing to bring the suit. Several other suits filed have been dismissed in Hawaii and Ohio.
The Obama campaign argues that Barack Obama is a naturally born U.S. citizen, born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961 and his birth certificate has been validated by officials in that state.
The latest move by Justice Thomas was first reported by the Washington Afro-American newspaper.
The Electoral College is scheduled to meet on Dec. 15 to certify Obama as the next president of the United States.
"Donofrio is questioning Obama's citizenship because the former Illinois senator, whose mom was from Kansas, claims to have been born in Hawaii and his father was a Kenyan national. Therefore, Donofrio argues, Obama's dual citizenship does not make Obama 'a natural born citizen' as required by Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution," according to the Afro story.
After Souter rejected his case, Donofrio followed the rules of procedure for the Supreme Court and re-submitted the application as an emergency stay in accordance to Rule 22, which allows an emergency stay request to be given to another justice, at the choice of the petitioner, according to the Afro story.
"Thomas's actions were rare because, by custom, when a justice rejects a petition from his own circuit, the matter is dead," the Afro reported.
If the Court accepted the case and ultimately overturned the election results, it would be the second time in 8 years that the Court had intervened in a presidential election. Souter and Thomas participated in the Bush v. Gore case in 2000.
In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state of Florida to suspend its recount of votes after the Florida Supreme Court had halted the declaration of a winner. In the end, George W. Bush defeated Vice President Al Gore by 537 votes in the state of Florida. The margin for Bush is believed to have been reduced substantially by a large amount by Voter News Service calling Florida for Gore prior to the close of the polls in the Western part of the state.
Articles written by a Staff Reporter are unsigned reports from a member of the staff.
thedailyvoice.com
For background reference:
Hawaii offers "Certificates of Live Birth" and "Certifications of Live Birth." Barack Obama posted a "Certification of Live Birth." on his website(http://msgboard.snopes.com/politics/graphics/birth.jpg). There is a difference between the two documents. The document we commonly refer to as a "birth certificate" (more formally called a Certificate of Live Birth) is packed with detail. Detail like the hospital you were born in, the doctor who delivered you along with his/her signature, etc. It looks like a tax form with all the boxes and everything. The Certification of Live Birth is a synopsis and not te legal document.
The state of Hawaii itself doesn't accept "Certifications of Live Birth" as a last leg of verification. What Barack Obama posted, was a Certification. What people want to see, is the Certificate.
Director of Health for the State of Hawaii, Chiyome Fukino: "There have been numerous requests for Sen. Barack Hussein Obama's official birth certificate. State law (Hawai'i Revised Statutes §338-18) prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record. Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawai'i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawai'i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama's original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures. No state official, including Governor Linda Lingle, has ever instructed that this vital record be handled in a manner different from any other vital record in the possession of the State of Hawai'i."
As anyone who is capable of comprehending what they read can see, Hawaii has not confirmed anything. So for there is no credible evidence that Barack Hussein Obama is legally able to serve as President. Tis is an issue that will not die even if leftwing conspirators complain about the need to discover the truth. |
