Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

To: edge919
IOW, the public bought a story and accepted misdirection that place of birth outweighs the father's citizenship because they don't understand what natural born citizen means.

The law simply isn't clear on this point. While the SCOTUS seemed to treat "natural-born citizenship" and "citizenship" interchangeably in Wong Kim Ark, the counter-argument to that is that that was a case about a child's inheritance, not about who is eligible to be President of the United States. IOW, it's likely the Court would have to accept an argument that, at least as to the President, the Founders intended the Constitution to require something beyond citizenship acquired merely by place of birth.

It's not impossible to make or have such an argument accepted. There is particular evidence that the Founders did not want those of dual citizenship, or -- based on their parents' citizenship -- divided allegiance, installed in the presidency. And so on. But the bottom line is that the Supreme Court has never actually reviewed the issue of who is a "natural-born citizen" in the context of what the Founders were intending as to the presidency.

133 posted on 03/28/2010 4:51:30 PM PDT by fightinJAG (Are you a Twitter activist? Freepmail me & let's talk.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies ]


To: fightinJAG

The decision in Wong Kim Ark was careful not to call the plaintiff a natural born citizen, plus it emphasizes that the child was considered a citizen by virtue of the 14th amendment in part because the parents were permanent U.S. residents. This was not the case for Obama’s father. Wong Kim Ark also echoed Minor V. Happersett’s use of the Vattel definition of natural born citizen: born of citizen parents on native soil. That’s two strikes against Obama.


134 posted on 03/28/2010 8:57:50 PM PDT by edge919
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 133 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article


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