Posted on 09/02/2008 1:36:23 AM PDT by Kevmo
Lawsuit over McCain citizenship should be tossed, GOP lawyers say
By Josh Richman Oakland Tribune
Article Launched: 08/28/2008 06:19:23 PM PDT
Lawyers for John McCain and the state and national Republican Party on Thursday asked a federal judge in San Francisco to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the candidate's place on California's Nov. 4 ballot.
Markham Robinson of Vacaville, chairman-elect of California's American Independent Party, sued McCain, the GOP and California Secretary of State Debra Bowen on Aug. 11, arguing the presidential candidate's birth 72 years ago today in the Panama Canal Zone means he's not a "natural-born citizen" — a Constitutional requirement to be president.
But lawyers for the GOP and McCain wrote Thursday that Robinson lacks standing to sue and is asking the courts to tread where the Constitution forbids.
Robinson hasn't shown McCain's candidacy causes him any harm, they said: He's neither a presidential candidate himself nor authorized to sue on behalf of his party or party nominee Alan Keyes, and stripping McCain from the ballot won't much improve the party's or Keyes' chances of winning.
If McCain were tossed, the GOP presumably would put up someone else in his place, they wrote. And even without a Republican in the race, they added, "Ambassador Keyes still would have to defeat Senator Obama in the state's general election."
Keyes ran against Obama for a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois in 2004 after Republicans drafted Keyes as a last-minute replacement for their initial nominee, Jack Ryan, who withdrew amid a sex scandal. Obama won the election with 70 percent of the vote to Keyes' 27 percent.
If that race is any guide, the GOP's lawyers dryly noted Thursday, Keyes' probability of beating Obama for president in California "seems, at best, speculative."
Anyhow, they argued, the Constitution says issues of presidential eligibility are to be decided by voters and the Electoral College and not the courts — a matter of separation of powers among the government's branches. And federal courts lack jurisdiction and cause to direct Bowen to exceed her statutory powers by questioning a party nominee's eligibility.
Robinson must file an opposing brief by Sept. 4, and U.S. District Judge William Alsup will consider the case Sept. 11.
The lawyers' brief doesn't discuss McCain's citizenship status. Federal law says anyone born in the Panama Canal Zone after Feb. 26, 1904, as a child of U.S. citizens is declared to be a U.S. citizen himself or herself. Some have questioned, however, whether this makes McCain a "natural-born citizen," a term the Constitution doesn't define any further; the federal law took effect about one year after McCain's birth, and doesn't say the person's citizenship was considered to have been acquired at birth.
McCain supporters have pointed to a 1790 law that provided that children of U.S. citizens born abroad "shall be considered as natural born citizens." Though no longer in effect, that law indicates what the founding fathers were thinking when the Constitution was drafted, those supporters contend.
The American Independents, a conservative party recently plagued by factional infighting, had 331,619 members as of May 19, comprising just over 2 percent of the state's registered voters. But there's anecdotal evidence that some voters join the party by mistake, believing they're registering as nonpartisan or "decline-to-state" voters.
Reach Josh Richman at 510-208-6428 or jrichman@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Hi Polarik. I’ve been thinking about that book you’re gonna write.
It would be very effective to have a scene in it similar to Michael Moore’s “Roger & Me” where you go into the campaign headquarters and ask for a certified copy of the birth certificate, and keep going up the chain of command. It needs to be videoed. Also, you would need a second person to be surreptitiously videotaping the encounter because you’ll get thrown out and the video will get smashed. When they lie and claim that no one ever asked for a copy to examine, you have it on tape.
The whole episode could be titled “Barry & me”.
Actually, I believe it's worse than that. It's the House of Representatives that gets to decide, when the electoral votes are officially counted.
But what are Berg's damages?
Thanks, Kevmo.
Pinging The List.
If that’s true then we have a hole in our constitution that any foreign billionaire could drive a truck through. Let’s say some 30 year old saudi billionaire jerkface dumps $2B into an election, gets elected and spreads all kinds of payola around to congress. Suddenly that 35 year old requirement for eligibility is toast.
Our founding fathers were concerned that someone with divided loyalties would angle their way through the system and that is the source of this “natural born” requirement.
If they are so confident, why not argue the merits instead of a technucality?
***Good question. In fact it’s one of those questions that is likely to be the sort of thing that we ask later, “why didn’t anyone follow up on that?” It is an indicator. Something is askew with this entire thing and I can’t put my finger on it. So, to take your approach, it is likely that they are not all that confident. I cannot understand why, other than the fact that it was only a “sense of the senate” rather than established law and so there is a hatch that is not battened down and it’s flapping away like crazy. No one wants to go near it.
Thanks for all the pings & excellent writing. It’s like Free Republic used to be.
General Scott might object.
Actually, you can click here for a real example from the last presidential election, in which the late Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones attempted to decertify Ohio's electoral votes.
The Acitivism sidebar is reserved for News/Activism of the FR chapters. Not this.
***This is a call to action to all FR chapters to engage on this constitutional issue. Please see my ping to you on the other thread.
Persia fell from the social impact of immigration.
***So did South Africa.
A Warning To America From South Africa
Obama-Biden ^ | September 1, 2008 | Gemma Meyer
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2072642/posts
Posted on Monday, September 01, 2008 3:46:16 PM by raybbr
In a criminal matter yes. But this is a civil suit.
***Then the responsibility of the court is probably to transfer the item to a criminal court. As a humorous side note, I saw Judge Wapner do that once on TV. Not that I would take that as an authoritative source...
Place a monetary figure on it.
***Whatever the DNC has in its pocket. Good enough for me.
General Scott might object.
***I’m not familiar with this guy. What was/is his significance?
Political thriller from the sixties: Seven Days in May
Yes.
McCain's shows he wasn't born in America, in any Territory, Protectorate, property or Embassy of America, nor on any US military base.
The same reason Obams doesn't show his...
Good point!
Berg doesn’t put a fixed figure on them, nor do I think it’s appropriate for him to do so. But I’m think he does take a stab at tallying up the total $ campaign donations by Hussein supporters at the time of his filing, as just a part of the overall picture.
Does you suppose that a complaintant not naming exact numbers in damages should be reason to alow someone who’s ineligible to be President to be elected and serve, seeing as complainant is making the case to stop it?
In order to have standing in a civil suit Beg has to show how he personally has been damaged byt the plaintiff. It isn't only appropriate that Berg put a figure on that, it's required.
We already went over this—he doesn’t. Damages can be and are anticipated moreover in the event that an ineligible person becomes POTUS. You don’t have to spell out exactly what damages would occur to you if a fraud is allowed to run its course.
Are you trying to annoy me, or are you having problems with cognition, or...?
You do in a civil suit to demonstrate standing.
Are you trying to annoy me, or are you having problems with cognition, or...?
If people pointing out where you're wrong is annoying then you must be annoyed a lot.
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.