Suppose you were a judge and this case came before you. Suppose further that it was in some way communicated to you that to even hear the case might cause grievous harm to you wife or children, to rule against Hussein might get your child's fingers sent to you in the mail.
What would you do?
There are too many very, very bad people with a lot invested in this man. I don't think there are any judges out there that want to be anywhere near this mess. Even ones that believe in the law and Constitution aren't going to be willing to get involved.
Some judges have guts in this land, and react the opposite to what ordinary people do when intimidated.
What I would do is to apply the principle that the Constitution means exactly what the framers intended it to mean, and I would look to contemporaneous documentation to determine what was meant by the phrase "natural born citizen". I would be guided very much by the writings of the Federalists, and by those they reference.
I would ultimately rule that the definition of "natural born citizen is that as written by Emmerich De Vattel in his "The Law of Nations or the Principles of Natural Law" (1758):
“…natural born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens. As the society cannot exist and perpetuate itself otherwise than by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their fathers, and succeed to all their rights. The society is supposed to desire this, in consequence of what it owns to its own preservation: and it is presumed, as a matter of course, that each citizen, on entering into society, reserves to his children the right of becoming members of it. The country of the fathers is therefore that of the children; and these become true citizens merely by their tacit consent. We shall soon see, whether, on their coming to the years of discretion, they may renounce their right, and what they owe to the society in which they were born. I say, that, in order to be of the country, it is necessary that a person be born of a father who is a citizen; for if he is born there of a foreigner, it will only be the place of his birth, and not his country”.
And I would rule that Barack Obama, never having met the Constitutional qualification for holding the office of the Presidency was ab initio disqualified and was, in fact and in law, never the President. I would order federal marshalls to escort the man from the premises and order that every official act of the man rendered null and void; all statutes, executive orders, commissions, treaties, rules, regulations, etc. promulgated during his tenancy in the White House nullified and stricken.
Do you think Sotomayor would be fair in this case?
“I don’t think there are any judges out there that want to be anywhere near this mess. Even ones that believe in the law and Constitution aren’t going to be willing to get involved. “
We don’t know this yet.
The one hearing it now is a former Marine. I don't think intimidation is likely to work on him.