Posted on 01/27/2012 10:02:09 AM PST by Danae
I have emphasized the word little because the truth of the law on this issue is very simple, folks. So simple that the mystery is deciphered by application of one of the most clear, concise and undeniable rules of law; the code of statutory construction governs, and therefore, natural born Citizen must require something more than being born in the United States.
Let me put it to you in appropriately simple language:
Clause A = Only a natural born Citizen may be President.
Clause B = Anyone born in the United States is a Citizen.
(While these two clauses reflect Article 2, Section 1, and the 14th Amendment, I shall refer to them as Clause A and Clause B for now.)
The code of statutory construction is learned by every student in law school, and every practicing attorney has confronted it. Every judge is required to apply the rule equally to all statutes, and the Constitution. There is no wiggle room at all. The rule states that when a court examines two clauses, unless Congress has made it clear that one clause repeals the other, the court must observe a separate legal effect for each. More specifically, regardless of the chronology of enactment, the general clause can never govern the specific.
Clause B is a general rule of citizenship, which states that all persons born in the country are members of the nation.
Clause A is a specific clause that says only those members of the nation who are natural born may be President.
According to the rule of statutory construction, the court must determine that Clause A requires something more than Clause B.
Its truly that simple. This is not some crazy conspiracy theory. Its not controversial. This is not rocket science. Every single attorney reading this right now knows, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that I have accurately explained the rule of statutory construction to you. Any attorney who denies this rule, is lying. The rule cannot be denied. And its simplicity cannot be ignored.
Now lets see what the United States Supreme Court has to say about the rule:
Where there is no clear intention otherwise, a specific statute will not be controlled or nullified by a general one, regardless of the priority of enactment. See, e. g., Bulova Watch Co. v. United States, 365 U.S. 753, 758 (1961); Rodgers v. United States, 185 U.S. 83, 87 -89 (1902).
The courts are not at liberty to pick and choose among congressional enactments, and when two statutes are capable of co-existence, it is the duty of the courts, absent a clearly expressed congressional intention to the contrary, to regard each as effective. When there are two acts upon the same subject, the rule is to give effect to both if possible . . . The intention of the legislature to repeal `must be clear and manifest. United States v. Borden Co., 308 U.S. 188, 198 (1939). Morton v. Mancari, 417 U.S. 535, 550-551 (1974).
This is what I mean by no wiggle room The courts are not at liberty to pick and choose among congressional enactments Any court construing Clause A is not at liberty to assume that Congress intended to put the words natural born into Clause B. The general does not govern the specific, and the rule requires the court to give effect to both if possible.
Is it possible to give separate effect to both Clause A and Clause B?
Yes. The Constitution tells us that any Citizen can be a Senator, or Representative, but that to be President one must be a natural born Citizen. The Constitution specifically assigns different civic statuses to Citizens and natural born Citizens. Therefore, not only is it possible to give separate effect to both Clause A and Clause B, it is absolutely required by law, and no court has the ability to circumvent the rule.
Had the original framers intended for any born Citizen to be eligible to the office of President, they would not have included the word natural in the clause. Additionally, had the framers of the 14th Amendment intended to declare that every person born in the country was a natural born Citizen, then the 14th Amendment would contain clear and manifest language to that effect. But it doesnt. Therefore, each clause must be given separate force and effect.
Deputy Chief Judge Malihi explained the rule of statutory construction in his denial of candidate Obamas Motion to Dismiss, wherein his opinion of the Court stated:
Statutory provisions must be read as they are written, and this Court finds that the cases cited by Defendant are not controlling. When the Court construes a constitutional or statutory provision, the first step . . . is to examine the plain statutory language. Morrison v. Claborn, 294 Ga. App. 508, 512 (2008). Where the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, judicial construction is not only unnecessary but forbidden. In the absence of words of limitation, words in a statute should be given their ordinary and everyday meaning. Six Flags Over Ga. v. Kull, 276 Ga. 210, 211 (2003) (citations and quotation marks omitted). Because there is no other natural and reasonable construction of the statutory language, this Court is not authorized either to read into or to read out that which would add to or change its meaning. Blum v. Schrader, 281 Ga. 238, 240 (2006) (quotation marks omitted). Order On Motion To Dismiss, Deputy Chief Judge Malihi, Jan. 3, 2012, pg. 3. (Emphasis added.)
Therefore, the term natural born must be considered as requiring something more than simple birth in the country. And Judge Malihi states, quite clearly, in his ruling above, that the Court is not authorized to read into or to read out that which would add to or change its meaning. The rule is the same for election statutes in Georgia as it is for the Constitution of the United States.
The rule of statutory construction, with regard to the Constitution, was best stated by Chief Justice Marshall in Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803):
It cannot be presumed that any clause in the constitution is intended to be without effect; and therefore such construction is inadmissible, unless the words require it. Id. 174. (Emphasis added.)
If the 14th Amendment was held to declare that all persons born in the country, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, were natural-born citizens, then the natural born Citizen clause would be rendered inoperative. It would be superfluous. And its specific provision would, therefore, be governed by the general provision of the 14th Amendment. The United States Supreme Court has determined that it is inadmissible to even make that argument.
Any genuine construction of the natural born Citizen clause must begin from the starting point that it requires something more than citizenship by virtue of being born on U.S. soil. Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162 (1874), tells you exactly what that something is; citizen parents.
Leo Donofrio, Esq.
[For a more detailed analysis of this issue, please see my Amicus Brief entered in the Georgia POTUS eligibility cases.]
The best way for this to be rightly resolved is for Congress to pass a law defining the 14th back to it's original intent that no future court could pervert as to legislate from the bench which is what the court did in WKA. Until this happens, illegal citizenship will continue to destroy our nation from within by destoying its economy via nanny(parent) state control.
You should have kept reading. But if you prefer ignorance, go ahead. WKA overturned a part of Slaughterhouse:
“The phrase, subject to its jurisdiction was intended to exclude from its operation children of ministers, consuls, and citizens or subjects of foreign States born within the United States.
This was wholly aside from the question in judgment and from the course of reasoning bearing upon that question. It was unsupported by any argument, or by any reference to authorities, and that it was not formulated with the same care and exactness as if the case before the court had called for an exact definition of the phrase...”
Congress? CONGRESS??????
YGBSM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You want Senator Harry Reid & Congressman John Boehner to handle it? What color is the sky on the planet where you live? They would pass a law saying NBC included anyone born on earth....
Senator Lyman Trumbull, a key figure in the drafting and adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment, responded that “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States meant subject to its “complete” jurisdiction, “[n]ot owing allegiance to anybody else.”[4] And Senator Jacob Howard, who introduced the language of the jurisdiction clause on the floor of the Senate, contended that it should be construed to mean “a full and complete jurisdiction,” “the same jurisdiction in extent and quality as applies to every citizen of the United States now”
The interpretative gloss offered by Senators Trumbull and Howard was also accepted by the Supreme Court-by both the majority and the dissenting justices-in The Slaughter-House Cases.[7] The majority in that case correctly noted that the “main purpose” of the clause “was to establish the citizenship of the negro” and that “[t]he phrase, ‘subject to its jurisdiction’ was intended to exclude from its operation children of ministers, consuls, and citizens or subjects of foreign States born within the United States.”[8] Justice Steven Field, joined by Chief Justice Chase and Justices Swayne and Bradley in dissent from the principal holding of the case, likewise acknowledged that the clause was designed to remove any doubts about the constitutionality of the 1866 Civil Rights Act, which provided that all persons born in the United States were as a result citizens both of the United States and of the state in which they resided, provided they were not at the time subjects of any foreign power.[9]
The ENTIRE court, dissenters included was in unison that "subject to the jurisdiction" aka "not subject to any foreign power" which was the actual language of the codified law until the mid 20th century.
There is no partiality in the definition of citizenship, one is either one or not. However, there is a distinction as to how one gains it and no where does the language of 1866 or the 14th claim it is anything but a law to define citizenship as holding but one allegiance, either at birth or naturalization. It's a pretty big stretch to say that WKA separated requirements at birth from that of naturalization without rewriting the language of the entire Amendment by relocating the punctuation marks therein.
I didn’t say it was a perfect solution and I have no illusion as I no longer believe in our political process that has been usurped and abused. True constitutionalist won’t run for Congress, well, not enough of them to make a difference.
On the other hand, look who we have in SCOTUS right now. They had legitimate cases before them and they refused to put them on the docket for a legitimate hearing. I mean really, Thomas went before Congress and laughed it off, so why should one even put their trust in an obviously corrupted jusdicial system?
We now are a lawless corrupt third world country.
- # 11 explains why.
. . . . Article, a few gems to read, and lots of comments to skip; SP's don'cha'know.
Thanks, Danae.
“I have no illusion as I no longer believe in our political process that has been usurped and abused. “
Although we obviously disagree on a number of issues, I can certainly understand this! I’m not certain I feel the same way, but I’m sure getting a long way down the road towards there...my tag line is a painful summary of my feelings.
Scholars have missed this ultimate check and balance in the "silence of the Constitution". No state can keep any legal candidate off the ballot, but a state can keep anyone off the ballot who does not provide legal documentation they are qualified to be President. That is the Constitution at it's core in the Articles concerning the Presidency. 49 states can state a fraud can be President in their super majority, but if one state demands proof and the candidate does not provide that legal proof, the one state in checks and balances can negate a national Presidential Election.
...The experts will try to state that .. can not override a majority vote by 49 other states, ..A President must be accepted by all 50 states according to legal Constitutional requirements. Any subject failing to provide natural born status can legally be rejected by any one state, and that one state in its minority rights will negate the other 49 states in the check and balance the Founders left silently in the Constitution to protect America from threats domestic and foreign.
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:) Thank you for the support! I don’t mind being corrected, and technically I should have stated there is no federal law or official process for digitally certifying government documents. I try to be precise and accurate as well as informative because otherwise it is just feed for trolls. I try to starve them as often as possible.
I igmored the typo too (LOL), but mostly because I have gotten flamed for everything from grammar to spelling to word choice to punctuation placement.... its what folks do when they REALLY hate what you wrote, but can’t argue the topic or POV. For me, that sort of snarking is a win. It means they don’t have anything better. I suppose it is why I get so many laughs at posters like HumbleGunner’s at their expense. I know then I got under their skin. Heh heh Its a win in my book. :)
OMG! I need a screenshot... I actually agree with you for once. I need to go play the lottery, immediately before this wears off!
;)
You bet Lucy. I know how you feel, between the NBC issue, and Rubio, Obama, and Mittens.... now Newt floating Rubio balloons... It is enough to make even the strong despair. At times I feel like throwing in the towel because with everything I have researched and written, published... it never seems to make much difference. It is frustrating.
That being said, I am not giving up! I can’t, I have two young kids to fight for.
Oh holey moley how could I forget that article!!!!!!!
This is something VERY deserving of in-depth research!
Thank you for pointing this out and bringing it back to the top of our collective conscious!!!
Booyeah Kudos to you Elle Bee!!!!!!!
Paging RummyChick. Please answer the courtesy phone. Thank you. ;o)
The electoral college selects the president, not the states. Thus the number of states is irrevelent if a state chooses not to allow a candidate on their ballot. But it does send a “HUGE” message to the nation.
That’s one heckova tag line! LMAO!!!
The electors have to have two candidates to choose from. Georgia would have a different democrat!! Can’t hide THAT.
You forget that the other party does NOT have to be a DNC candidate. A libertarian or Indepentdent will do just fine. Furthermore, the Constitution does not state that the 2 people have to be from competing political parties, there merely needs to be 2 candidates to choose from. Most of the founders were not fond of political parties thus party affiliation is not a requirement.
You overlooked the fact that the other party does NOT have to be a DNC candidate. A libertarian or Indepentdent will do just fine. Furthermore, the Constitution does not state that the 2 people have to be from competing political parties, there merely needs to be 2 candidates to choose from. Most of the founders were not fond of political parties thus party affiliation is not a requirement.
08/07/92 STATE MINNESOTA v. ERIC JAMES DOKKEN
COURT OF APPEALS OF MINNESOTA
http://mn.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19920807_0005.MN.htm/qx
"Rubin v. The Islamic Republic of Iran", page 241
Yearbook of Cultural Property Law 2008
Sherry Hutt, David Tarler
http://books.google.com/books?id=_FPqDD7IyUoC
Statutory default rules: how to interpret unclear legislation
Einer Elhauge
Harvard University Press, Feb 28, 2008
Professor Michael Zander QC
The Law-Making Process, Cambridge University Press, 6th edn, 2004, pp. 213-214
http://www.francisbennion.com/2004/nfb/006.htm
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