Posted on 09/07/2009 6:09:15 AM PDT by Free America52
The Justice Department is urging a federal court to toss out a lawsuit in which prominent birthers' attorney Orly Taitz is challenging President Barack Obama's Constitutional qualifications to be president.
In a motion filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Calif., government lawyers did not directly rebut the conspiracy theory Taitz propounds that Obama was not born in Hawaii as he claims and as asserted by Hawaiian officials as well as contemporary newspaper birth notices. Instead, the federal attorneys argued that the suit is inherently flawed because such disputes can't be resolved in court and because the dozens of plaintiffs can't show they are directly injured by Obama's presence in office.
"It is clear, from the text of the Constitution, and the relevant statutory law implementing the Constitution’s textual commitments, that challenges to the qualifications of a candidate for President can, in the first instance, be presented to the voting public before the election, and, once the election is over, can be raised as objections as the electoral votes are counted in the Congress," Assistant United States Attorneys Roger West and David DeJute wrote. "Therefore, challenges such as those purportedly raised in this case are committed, under the Constitution, to the electors, and to the Legislative branch."
The birthers' suit claims that Obama is a citizen of Indonesia and "possibly still citizen of Kenya, usurping the position of the President of the United States of America and the Commander-in-Chief.”
Lieutenant Jason Freese and some other plaintiffs in the case claim they have a real injury because they are serving in the military commander by Obama, the alleged usurper. However, West and DeJute say that argument is too speculative.
"The injuries alleged by Plaintiff Freese and the other military Plaintiffs herein, are not particularized as to them, but, rather, would be shared by all members of the military and is an inadequate basis on which to establish standing," the government lawyers wrote.
Another plaintiff in the suit, Alan Keyes, is a three-time, longshot presidential candidate who ran most recently in 2008. Yet another is Gail Lightfoot, an ultra-longshot vice presidential candidate in 2008. The DOJ argues that they were not directly aggrieved by Obama's election because they never had a mathematical chance of winning.
"The [lawsuit] does not allege, nor could it allege, that any of these Plaintiffs were even on the ballot in enough states in the year 2008 to gain the requisite 270 electoral votes to win the Presidential election," the motion states.
The Justice Department brief takes a few shots at the wackiness of the birthers, accusing them of trafficking in "innuendo" and advancing "a variety of vaguely-defined claims purportedly related to a hodgepodge of constitutional provisions, civil and criminal statutes, and the Freedom of Information Act."
Those arguments notwithstanding, the DOJ lawyers were pretty kind to the birthers and to Taitz, since the filings in the case are replete with spelling errors, among others. Taitz submitted another purported foreign birth certificate for Obama last week in a filing labeled, "Kenian Hospital Birth Certificate for Barack Obama."
The case is set for a hearing Tuesday morning before Judge David Carter. There's a strong chance the session will devolve into something of a sideshow since a couple of plaintiffs in the case are now in a dispute with Taitz and have sought to bring in a different attorney to represent them in the case.
I love the way they generally are so pompous, filled with a rectitude that allows them to ignore "seeking the truth."
I believe this issue will go beyond vexng Obama, and if it forces his hand to be more tyrannical, even that will be used to good effect.
Interesting how sacrificial lambs of the left rate no comment from their lord and master.
I love the way they generally are so pompous, filled with a rectitude that allows them to ignore "seeking the truth."
I believe this issue will go beyond vexng Obama, and if it forces his hand to be more tyrannical, even that will be used to good effect.
Interesting how sacrificial lambs of the left rate no comment from their lord and master.
“Then why is Taitz suing Hillary Clinton (listed as Secretary of State), Robert Gates (listed as Secretary of Defense), and Joseph Biden (listed as Vice President and President of the Senate)?”
Because guess what. Hillary Clinton is Secretary of State. Robert Gates is the Secretary of Defense. Joseph Biden is the current Vice President.
Two of the three committed their offenses before they were appointed to cabinet posts, and Gates should be hung for putting our troops in harm’s way without knowing whether ot not obama was ever eligible to hold the position of Commander in Chief.
He is responsible for every American soldier whether deployed or not. It is his duty to know whether the orders he issues are legal.
Unanswered questions are always the first symptom.
I’ll take my dad’s word....He graduated at the top of his law class and clerked in the Federal Court...It is a procedural tools used by the court not a law.
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Prior to Frothingham v. Mellon (1923), ordinary citizens always had standing to challenge alleged violations of the Constitution ...
I shutter to think what will later happen if the issue does not get a court hearing in which the documentation is produced.
You didn’t answer my question. What actions did Clinton or Biden take before they became members of the cabinet that would result in injury to the plaintiffs?
The case of standing is that there are allegations of a fraudulant election. We have a right to have an honest election. The abridgement of that right by fraud injures at least every voter who did not vote for the suspect and by extension even those who did. A rights violation injures all of those whose rights were violated.
I pick my interpretartion to defend. Do you want to defend having the son of a British father as president and what the founders may have intended?
STANDING - The legal right to initiate a lawsuit. To do so, a person must be sufficiently affected by the matter at hand, and there must be a case or controversy that can be resolved by legal action.
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Show me where, prior to Frothingham v. Mellon in 1923, the Supreme Court disallowed constitutional challenges brought by ordinary people.
Frothingham introduced the concept as a way for SCOTUS to avoid being swamped with lawsuits ...
Standing is a procedural rule, not a law, and may not even be constitutional - but who is gonna challenge it in front of SCOTUS ???
The Constitution should be amended to allow for constitutional challenges of eligibility ...
No, I believe what the founders intended is crucial to the case.
The DOJ is referencing Federalist Papers, No. 68 in their Motion to Dismiss:
___________________________________________________
Federalist Papers, No. 68 - March 12, 1788
The Constitution of the United States - September 17, 1789
Funny that the DOJ didnt reference the newer document...
Maybe advise Barry Dunham-Soetoro thast he should show his long form BC and prove he is eligible
In two of the three instances you mentioned, the government was the prosecutor. They could not also provide defense. Thus Clinton was required to obtain private counsel.
In the civil suit, the DOJ couldn't defend him because the suit was concerning actions he took as Governor of Arkansas. I would assume THAT was well known.
It was the original suit that brought about the impeachment and perjury charges.
And your point is what, exactly? I already told YOU that.
The case of standing is that there are allegations of a fraudulant election. We have a right to have an honest election. The abridgement of that right by fraud injures at least every voter who did not vote for the suspect and by extension even those who did. A rights violation injures all of those whose rights were violated.
***
Oh, I heartily agree - my point is that especially when a basic Constitutional tenet is in question, upon reasonable grounds, that ANY citizen should have standing.
My point about standing itself is that it was a rule trumped up by SCOTUS as a way to skirt the myriads of lawsuits that were being filed at the time ...
Misleading. The State of Hawaii has never confirmed the Obama COLB for authenticity that DailyKos or "Factcheck".org have posted online if the document was ever issued by the state, in fact they have refused to.
Yes theree is injury to every American who took part in the election at least...
Plus our dependant children
Are you answering my posts without reading them?
“As for the rest of the defendants, they either knew, or should have known, as leaders of their party, that obama was not a legitimate candidate. Their failure to do due diligence is what this is about.”
“The DOJ is under no obligation to defend any of them since the actions or nonactions in question were before they held any office in the administration.”
I never said that standing was a law. Technically it is a doctrine.
Umm. No, you didn’t tell me that. I brought it up. You have nitpicked your way through my posts and answered wrongly, then gone back to try and make it seem as if I am the one who doesn’t understand what’s going on.
Let’s not do that anymore, shall we?
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