The trouble is that the only people who can file criminal charges against people like Pelosi are political appointees who don’t want to rock the boat, or elected officials who need the smile of the media (or so they think). Part of the bigger problem we’re dealing with on the eligibility issue is something much more far-reaching and serious: the inability of the people to get justice from law enforcement. It’s like the political class gets a get-out-of-jail-free card, because only their cronies have the authority to file criminal charges.
Any bills that are passed really need to have a way for a NORMAL PERSON to initiate legal action. And that’s not just true for the eligibility issue, but for everything. What would happen if a normal person could sue government officials who change the locks on buildings in order to keep the voters’ representative from being able to participate? What would happen if citizens of Wisconsin could sue their absent legislators for work those legislators are being paid to do but refuse to do?
The political class is way too comfy, knowing that the people can’t do anything to hold them accountable to the law between elections. That’s the only way we get the crap sandwiches shoved down our throats like we’ve had for the last 2 years.
Regarding the “different standards”, that wouldn’t be a basis for throwing out the state laws because, unlike immigration, the federal government has no jurisdiction over state Presidential elections. The Constitution specifically gives the states the responsibility and authority to choose their own electoral voters. The states don’t violate the US Constitution simply by having their own standards, as long as those standards are compliant with the Constitution.
Their easiest way out this week, if they are not going to reject the matter entirely, is to remand it to a lower court for discovery. That is, they could decide in the interests of political stability, to slow this down to allow Soetoro/Obama to finish the term.
Although far from a glorious victory, that would at least clarify "Natural Born Citizenship" for future candidacies. It also would do much to claim the "public opinion," so important to many in the fight. Although, in my opinion, Soetoro/Obama's constituency is so strong that "public opinion," actually means little to him or his administration.
Vinson's ultimatum is also going to drive Obamacare to the SCOTUS, or at least to the 11th Circuit and then to the SCOTUS. This is one heck of a key week in constitutional history.