Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Thomas Breaks Tradition: Forces Supreme Court to Look at Obama Citizenship Case
THE AFRO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS ^ | 12/3/08 | James Wright, AFRO Staff Reporter

Posted on 12/03/2008 11:43:31 PM PST by BP2

 
U.S. Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
By James Wright
AFRO Staff Writer

(December 3, 2008) - In a highly unusual move, U.S. Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has asked his colleagues on the court to consider the request of an East Brunswick, N.J. attorney who has filed a lawsuit challenging President-elect Barack Obama’s status as a United States citizen.

Thomas’s action took place after Justice David Souter had rejected a petition known as an application for a stay of writ of certiorari that asked the court to prevent the meeting of the Electoral College on Dec. 15, which will certify Obama as the 44th president of the United States and its first African-American president.

The court has scheduled a Dec. 5 conference on the writ -- just 10 days before the Electoral College meets.

The high court’s only African American is bringing the matter to his colleagues as a result of the writ that was filed by attorney Leo Donofrio. Donofrio sued the New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Wells, contending that Obama was not qualified to be on the state’s presidential ballot because of Donofrio’s own questions about Obama citizenship.

Donofrio is a retired lawyer who identifies himself as a “citizen’s advocate.” The AFRO learned that he is a contributor to naturalborncitizen.wordpress.com, a Web site that raises questions about Obama’s citizenship.

Calls made to Donofrio’s residence were not returned to the AFRO by press time.

Donofrio is questioning Obama’s citizenship because the former Illinois senator, whose mom was from Kansas, was 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, which 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…”

...to prevent the meeting of the Electoral College on Dec. 15, which
will certify Obama as the 44th president of the United States...

Donofrio had initially tried to remove the names not only of Obama, but also the names of Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain and Socialist Workers’ Party Roger Calero from appearing on the Nov. 4 general election ballot in his home state of New Jersey.

McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone when it was a U.S. possession. Calero would be ineligible to be president because he was born in Nicaragua.
After his efforts were unsuccessful in the New Jersey court system, he decided to take his case to a higher level.

On Nov. 6, Souter denied the stay. Donofrio, following the rules of the procedure for the Supreme Court, re-submitted the application as an emergency stay in accordance to Rule 22, which states, in part, that an emergency stay can be given to another justice, which is the choice of the petitioner.

Donofrio’s choice was Thomas. He submitted the emergency stay to Thomas’s office on Nov. 14.  Thomas accepted the application on Nov. 19 and on that day, submitted it for consideration by his eight colleagues - known as a conference - and scheduled it for Dec. 5.

On Nov. 26, a supplemental brief was filed by Donofrio to the clerk’s office of the Supreme Court. A letter to the court explaining the reason for the emergency stay was filed on Dec. 1 at the clerk’s office.

Thomas’s actions were rare because, by custom, when a justice rejects a petition from his own circuit, the matter is dead. Even if, as can be the case under Rule 22, the matter can be submitted to another justice for consideration, that justice out of respect, will reject it also, said Trevor Morrison, a professor of law at Columbia University School of Law.

Morrison said that Thomas’s actions are once in a decade.  “When that does happen, the case has to be of an extraordinary nature and this does not fit that circumstance,” he said. “My guess would be that Thomas accepted the case so it would go before the conference where it will likely be denied. If Thomas denied the petition, then Donofrio would be free to go to the other justices for their consideration.  

“This way, I would guess, the matter would be done with.  Petitions of Donofrio’s types are hardly ever granted.”

Traditionally, justices do not respond to media queries, according to a spokesman from the Supreme Court Public Information Office.

Thomas was appointed to the Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and has been one of its most conservative members.

Before his ascension to the court, he was appointed by Bush to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Earlier, he served as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - appointed by President Reagan - and worked various jobs under former Republican Sen. John Danforth.

It would take a simple majority of five justices to put Donofrio’s emergency stay on the oral argument docket. Because it is an emergency by design, the argument would take place within days.

Donofrio wants the court to order the Electoral College to postpone its Dec. 15 proceedings until it rules on the Obama citizenship. He is using the 2000 case Bush vs. Gore case as precedent, arguing that it is of such compelling national interest that it should be given priority over other cases on the court’s docket.

“The same conditions apply here,” Donofrio said in his letter to the court, “as the clock is ticking down to Dec. 15, the day for the Electoral College to meet.”

Audrey Singer, a senior fellow at Washington’s Brookings Institution, who is an expert on immigration, said that the Donofrio matter is “going nowhere.”

“There is no way that anyone can argue about whether Barack Obama is a citizen,” Singer said. “In this country, we have a system known as jus soli or birthright by citizenship. You are a citizen by being born on American soil and he (Obama) was born in Hawaii.”

Singer said that Donofrio’s argument that Obama’s father was a Kenyan national does not matter because citizenship is not based on parentage, but on where someone was born.

“This is the issue that some people have with illegal aliens in our country,” she said. “Children of illegal aliens, if they are born in the United States, are U.S. citizens. That is in the U.S. Constitution.”

 



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bho2008; birthcertificate; case; certifigate; constitution; court; lawsuit; naturalborncitizen; notthisshiitagain; obama; obamatransitionfile; obamatruthfile; president; scotus; supreme; supremecourt; take; talkradioignores; tinfoil
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 841-860861-880881-900 ... 921-922 next last
To: calenel

“People who WANT it to be true have repeated their convoluted arguments ad nauseam, apparently believing that enough repetition will MAKE it true. It won’t.”

Here, here!

I have a question for those who can see into the minds of the Founders and the framers of the 14th amendment. If they were well aware of the danger to our Republic of children born with split loyalties, why didn’t they exclude them from citizenship at birth? That is to say, why go through the trouble of creating a hidden third class of citizen (citizen from birth but not natural born) when you can simply come out and say, “Hey, we don’t want these people to be president!”


861 posted on 12/07/2008 4:23:31 AM PST by Tublecane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 821 | View Replies]

To: BP2

“(1) American Citizen + (1) Foreign Citizen + Birth on US Soil = NATURAL BORN CITIZEN ?!”

Heck, why go through all that math. This is simpler:

Birth on U.S. Soil = NATURAL BORN CITIZEN


862 posted on 12/07/2008 4:24:54 AM PST by Tublecane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 822 | View Replies]

To: MHGinTN

“Your agenda is becoming plainer with every one of your posts. You are here to obfuscate and sow doubt and play obamanoid agitprop. No need to give you any further attention.”

Ah, the open-mindedness of the internet. Don’t you love it?


863 posted on 12/07/2008 4:27:04 AM PST by Tublecane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 825 | View Replies]

To: EDINVA

“sheesh, my kids were born by caesarian section, does that make them ineligible for POTUS?”

If the Constitution says “No person except those of woman born shall be eligible to the Office of President,” then yes. I forget.


864 posted on 12/07/2008 4:36:43 AM PST by Tublecane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 847 | View Replies]

To: BP2

“... and then to top it off, the LEGAL Reference YOU use to define ‘natural born citizen’ is Dictionary.com”

The essential core of the law is not historical context, as you seem to imply. There is a deeper level. Ultimately, all legal arguments must come down to semantics, since laws are written in words. There’s no escaping it.


865 posted on 12/07/2008 4:39:03 AM PST by Tublecane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 848 | View Replies]

To: danamco
How about a direct link to P. A. Madison's bio or credentials? The link you gave goes to a site that obviously took a lot of time and effort, but that doesn't make what it says any more valid. I was unable to discover such in my admittedly superficial scan of the site.
866 posted on 12/07/2008 4:40:55 AM PST by calenel (The Democratic Party is a Criminal Enterprise. It is the Socialist Mafia.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 851 | View Replies]

To: calenel

If you say, Birth on US soil = Natural born citizen, then two terrorists could come here give birth to a child and that child could grow up to be President. That is wrong.
The child would be a citizen, but not a “natural born” citizen because the parents were not citizens at the time of his birth.

Now if two persons come here and become citizens, then give birth to a child, then that child can grow up to be President because the child would be a “natural born” citizen.


867 posted on 12/07/2008 6:14:15 AM PST by seekthetruth
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 843 | View Replies]

To: Tublecane

“reinstall the Stamp Act?”

Where are these new carbon tax ideas coming from? Obama’s going to make it happen..

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/farmers-panic-about-a-cow-tax/

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0228/p04s01-wogi.html

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20081201/FREE/312019971


868 posted on 12/07/2008 6:21:12 AM PST by Blu By U
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 854 | View Replies]

To: BP2
Are you serious?

"after all of your grand-standing, quoting Acts and Rulings that deal with naturalization, and such phrases as 'born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States,' seemingly ACKNOWLEDGING that Obama was born OUTSIDE of the US"

I have never held any other position than that Obama may have been born outside the US. Even so, my original belief was that that did not matter as his mother was an American. I have since learned - long before this thread - that US Citizenship at birth is not - quite - so automatic, and that Obama may very well not qualify as his mother was of insufficient are to meet the residency requirements. That is the entire history of my position. The 'Acts and Rulings' that I have quoted do not just deal with naturalization, but also citizenship at birth. If you want to see grandstanding, look in the mirror.

"hanging your hat on phrases like "is declared to be a citizen of the United States," VS something with TEETH, like 'is declared to be a Natural Born Citizen of the United States' -- which we NEED, but which doesn't exist "

I maintain that there is no difference between 'born...citizens' and 'natural born citizens' in the Law or COTUS. I have supported my position with SC rulings that show that the SC has historically agreed with that definition, comments from former Attys. General to that end, and so forth.

"referencing your primary arguments from the 14th Amendment which was ratified by LESS than 3/5 of the 37 State Legislatures at the time it was codified, instead of 3/4 of the states as REQUIRED by the Constitution (now that's a completely different discussion there)""

So, now, the 14th Amendment doesn't count any more? As I recall, the 14th Amendment was included in some of your" arguments.

"ignoring the British Nationality Act of 1948 (Part II, Section 5): 'Subject to the provisions of this section, a person born after the commencement of this Act shall be a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by descent if his father is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies at the time of the birth'"

I am not ignoring it so much as declaring it to be irrelevant. Dual citizenship is not an issue. British law has no bearing. I do not dispute that Obama likely holds or held British citizenship which turned into Kenya citizenship. I dispute that that automatically disqualifies him from being POTUS. I dispute that, if born in the US, he does not hold US citizenship from birth as well. I am fully cognizant of irregularities in his documentation. I hold the position that if he was born in Kenya he is not a natural born citizen of the US and most likely is an illegal alien and is not Constitutionally eligible for the office of Senator (non citizen) OR President (non natural born citizen).

"intermingling 'Jus soli' variations of 'Citizen,' 'Native Born Citizen,' 'Natural Born Citizen,' 'Citizen by Birth,' etc, while picking 'Jus sanguinis' parts of Acts that clearly state things like: 'provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend on persons whose fathers have never been resident of the United States.' Pulling parts from different Act from different eras"

Nope. My argument is that all those 'Jus soli' variations are just that, variations of the same thing. That has yet to be refuted. My position on 'fathers' conditions like the one you mentioned is that they were clearly intended to mean 'citizen fathers' where not explicitly so stated, but that gender neutral language has been substituted since at least the 14th Amendment. I don't think that argument has been disputed thus far, and I have only included it to avoid confusion because 'father' does appear in many of the older laws and it is Obama's father that was the alien. Gender based distinctions simply do not any longer apply.

"blowing off State Dept's FAMs, saying they're 'just a Manual,' even though they use strong legal references to carry out the nation's Constitutional and Statutory Immigration actions. People are denied or granted citizenship based upon the FAM's EVERYDAY."

Are you claiming that that referenced manual (which, incidentally, uses the language 'may not') is superior in the Law to SC rulings? If people are being denied solely on the basis of that document then they have very good cases and should pursue them. Where that manual references other work, then arguments are based on those other works, and not on the manual.

"minimizing that Congress has tried to change the NBC issues of Article Two 26 times in the past 140 years, and never getting it out of Committee"

I haven't directly referenced this point before, but since you asked: So What? To what purpose? Were they trying to make more people eligible, or were they going the other way and trying to make fewer people eligible? They failed in no small measure because you can't amend the Constitution that way. It would have to make it a lot further than 'out of committee.'

"knowing that before Chester Arthur, who almost surely & fraudulently hid his dual citizenship status while he was VP, the last 'foreign born' President and VP help office more than 170 years ago"

There has never been a non white (except maybe Lincoln who might have had a melungeon grandmother, a 'fact' that he almost surely and fraudulently hid), female, openly gay, Mormon, etc., President either, but that doesn't mean there never will be. I am not responsible for any fraud that Arthur may have committed, nor do I cite it as precedent for anything.

"shooting down historical works our forefathers, like Vattel and Blackston, would have certainly used in their law practice and/or as reference to construct wording for the Constitution ... the SAME references that Justice Thomas uses to help interpret the Framer's actions"

I didn't shoot down those works, I simply stated that "All these 'Natural Law' and 'English Common Law' arguments are tenuous at best." That would be because there are existing US laws that take precedence. That does not mean that Blackstone will never have any bearing on anything. It simply means that it is not superior to actual US Law, where such law exists.

"and then to top it off, the LEGAL Reference YOU use to define 'natural born citizen' is Dictionary.com"

Yep. You got me. I used a dictionary to find the definition of a term. This undermines my entire argument, and clearly you are right, because I used a dictionary. Even though Dictionary.com's definitions come from Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English and Random House Unabridged Dictionary we still can not say that words actually mean what the dictionary says they do. Uh huh.

869 posted on 12/07/2008 6:30:37 AM PST by calenel (The Democratic Party is a Criminal Enterprise. It is the Socialist Mafia.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 848 | View Replies]

To: Tublecane

And I’m no lawyer, but I tend to agree. However, what we think matters not. Unfortunately, what the politicians think matters too much.


870 posted on 12/07/2008 6:42:25 AM PST by centurion316
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 855 | View Replies]

To: ExTexasRedhead
I want to know why Hannity, Levin, Limbaugh, Coulter, Malkin, Hedgecock and the rest haven’t pushed this issue????

That answer is very simple:

Hannity, Levin, Limbaugh, Coulter, Malkin, Hedgecock and the rest all stand to make MASSIVE REVENUES in book sales, ad deals, show ratings and public appearences at $50 a pop, because conservatives will use them as a vent to voice their impotence for the next eight years.

And conservatives will eagerly pay for every book and ticket, because they're sheep, too.

And Hannity, Levin, Limbaugh, Coulter, Malkin, Hedgecock and the rest KNOW IT!!!

Conservatives = suckers.

871 posted on 12/07/2008 6:44:07 AM PST by Old Sarge (For the first time in my life, I am ashamed to be an American)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 804 | View Replies]

To: Yaelle
This resolution doesn't seem to apply to nonmilitary parents.

You're right -- but if the Senate set the bar this high for the military [McCain] -- both parents being American citizens and birth on an American military base -- then should the bar be lower for the non-military???

872 posted on 12/07/2008 6:45:18 AM PST by Uncle Chip (TRUTH : Ignore it. Deride it. Allegorize it. Interpret it. But you can't ESCAPE it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 786 | View Replies]

To: Newtiebacker; Polarik
Well, if he is going to post one single document on the web, why not the right one? It omits the real pertinent data while obfuscating the issue. Compare “where is the proof” to “where is the proof - right there - no, that is insufficient - why - because it doesn't answer the question - it says Honolulu right there - where is the doctor's signature, or the witnesses? - they are on the vault copy - so where is that - the HI government says they have it - but what does it say? - they didn't actually tell us, they just say they have it,” and so on in endless circular arguments. Why not full disclosure of the one actual conclusive verifiable piece of evidence?

I base my opinion of Polarik (Ron Polarik, PhD) work on some personal background that I have in electronic documents, fonts and such. That being said, I do not claim to be an expert, and I do not rely on Polarik’s work to support my position regarding Obama’s eligibility, only Obama’s credibility. I do find credible the evidence and analysis that Polarik has done, and at least he is around to answer questions about it right here (unlike this P.A. Madison that has been repeatedly cited).

873 posted on 12/07/2008 6:57:43 AM PST by calenel (The Democratic Party is a Criminal Enterprise. It is the Socialist Mafia.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 850 | View Replies]

To: curiosity
"the Senate has settled the issue for us all, determining in SR511 that 'natural born' meant a person born of two American citizen parents and on American territory."

The Senate did not say those were the minimum requirements. There were factual errors (location of McCain's birth) in the assertions in any case.

874 posted on 12/07/2008 7:02:21 AM PST by calenel (The Democratic Party is a Criminal Enterprise. It is the Socialist Mafia.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 763 | View Replies]

To: Tublecane
But McCain wasn’t born on U.S. soil, was he? Anyway, I’ve not read the resolution, but I doubt it said that ONLY people born of two American parents is a natural born citizen. I’m sure it simply said that McCain is a natural born citizen for that reason.

RESOLUTION 511: Recognizing that John Sidney McCain, III, is a natural born citizen.

Whereas the Constitution of the United States requires that, to be eligible for the Office of the President, a person must be a `natural born Citizen' of the United States;

Whereas the term `natural born Citizen', as that term appears in Article II, Section 1, is not defined in the Constitution of the United States;

Whereas there is no evidence of the intention of the Framers or any Congress to limit the constitutional rights of children born to Americans serving in the military nor to prevent those children from serving as their country's President;

Whereas such limitations would be inconsistent with the purpose and intent of the `natural born Citizen' clause of the Constitution of the United States, as evidenced by the First Congress's own statute defining the term `natural born Citizen';

Whereas the well-being of all citizens of the United States is preserved and enhanced by the men and women who are assigned to serve our country outside of our national borders;

Whereas previous presidential candidates were born outside of the United States of America and were understood to be eligible to be President; and

Whereas John Sidney McCain, III, was born to American citizens on an American military base in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That John Sidney McCain, III, is a `natural born Citizen' under Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States.

What did they "understand" and when did they "understand it"???

875 posted on 12/07/2008 7:03:01 AM PST by Uncle Chip (TRUTH : Ignore it. Deride it. Allegorize it. Interpret it. But you can't ESCAPE it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 853 | View Replies]

To: seekthetruth
"If you say, Birth on US soil = Natural born citizen, then two terrorists could come here give birth to a child and that child could grow up to be President. That is wrong."

As terrorists they would technically be 'hostile occupying aliens', or at least I would consider them so. There are other excluded classes. I won't argue for the right of a terrorist's children to be eligible for POTUS, or even a citizen. I have previously mentioned thet La Raza would count as a hostile occupying army and that hteir children are not POTUS eligible. I know how ridiculously difficult to win such a case would be as well. Location of birth is critical. Status of parents as diplomats, Indians, or invaders is critical. Citizenship of parents is not.

876 posted on 12/07/2008 7:14:38 AM PST by calenel (The Democratic Party is a Criminal Enterprise. It is the Socialist Mafia.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 867 | View Replies]

To: calenel

Sorry, should have read “or even citizens” and “their”.


877 posted on 12/07/2008 7:18:43 AM PST by calenel (The Democratic Party is a Criminal Enterprise. It is the Socialist Mafia.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 876 | View Replies]

To: calenel

Have you read Leo Donofrio’s research and statements on this? I believe Leo is correct. But we will know in time. Monday will be very interesting!


878 posted on 12/07/2008 7:20:54 AM PST by seekthetruth
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 876 | View Replies]

To: calenel

Oh, I get it.

FactCheck is only credible when they say Obama’s birth certificate it legit.

When they admit he was a British citizen at birth they are not credible.

Makes perfect sense.


879 posted on 12/07/2008 7:44:28 AM PST by wndawmn666
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 823 | View Replies]

To: seekthetruth
Have you read Leo Donofrio’s research and statements on this?"

I have read Donofrio's case. I don't think he's right, but I won't mind being wrong should it come out that way.

880 posted on 12/07/2008 7:52:48 AM PST by calenel (The Democratic Party is a Criminal Enterprise. It is the Socialist Mafia.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 878 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 841-860861-880881-900 ... 921-922 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson