Yet Another Modest Proposal

As faithful P&E readers will recall, over the years your humble servant has made several “modest proposals” seeking to address unresolved issues then percolating in the Republic. Most, if not all of those proposals, have dealt with the “birthright citizenship” and “natural born Citizen” (“nbC”) matters under the 14th Amendment and “Eligibility Clause” provisions of the Constitution.

Well, a recent decision of Florida federal District Court Judge David Leibowitz declaring a federal statute – 18 U.S.C. § 611 unconstitutional – presents an opportunity for one more proposal. This one, however, would be specifically directed to the clarification, if not outright resolution, of the question of who, exactly, can be eligible to the presidency as an nbC, a question being continuously “evaded” by the Supreme Court.

The October 1, 2026 decision – United States v. Cox – concludes that a non-citizen foreigner (Chelsea Cox), who knowingly voted in the 2020 general election while fully aware that she was not a U.S. citizen, could not be prosecuted under the federal statute. The basis for Judge Lebowitz’s decision was that Congress lacked the authority to enact the law in the first place since the Constitution vests the States – here, Florida rather than the Congress – with the exclusive power to set the qualifications for electors.

Stated otherwise, Judge Leibowitz asserts that Congress lacks the power to make U.S. citizenship a precondition of voting for federal officers. The States can do so, and Florida did. Accordingly, while Cox could still be prosecuted under Florida law, because the federal law was in his view “void ab initio” (unconstitutional from the beginning), the federal case was required to be dismissed. The real question now will be how long it takes for this decision to meander through the appeals thicket ... continue reading at: https://www.thepostemail.com/2026/10/04/yet-another-modest-proposal/

Since you asked. Despite my in general strong support of Marco Rubio’s actions and his doing a very good job as Secretary of State, he is not constitutionally eligible to serve as Vice President or President and Commander in Chief since he is not a “natural born Citizen” of the United States. For the reasons why, see my book at the link below.

CDR Charles F. Kerchner, Jr. (Ret)
Author: “Natural Born Citizen”
http://www.kerchner.com/books/naturalborncitizen.htm

P.S. But let’s keep this thread about the article by Joseph DeMaio and what you think about his idea of a way of getting the U.S. Supreme Court to stop evading the issue of adjudicating once and for all what the constitutional term “natural born Citizen” means when it comes to who can constitutionally serve as the President and Commander in Chief or the Vice President. SCOTUS needs to stop evading the issue and take a case directly on that question and decide it instead of evading the issue. I believe they have been evading the issue, deflecting cases over the last almost 20 years, because they know that the founders and framers understanding of the meaning and national security purpose of the “natural born Citizen” (nbC) term in our Constitution does not agree with what the two major political parties today want it to mean. I address the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of the “natural born Citizen” term in the presidential eligibility term in great historical detail in my book, and why it was a term selected by the founders and framers for national security reasons. So lets hopefully keep the discussion here on how one can get SCOTUS to take up a case on the merits of the original intent meaning of the “nbC” term and decide it instead of evading it.

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