[MMaschin]

LOL!

Simple question, what meaning does the word "natural" have, if "natural born citizen" equates to "born citizen"? Because according to the rule of Constitutional construction established by the Supreme Court, ALL words must be construed as having meaning! You can't skip over words.

So what does the word 'natural' mean in the context used? Simple- there are two basic forms of law, positive law, and natural law. So the term-of-art natural born citizen means exactly that, a citizenship n at birth by natural law.

Positive law is all law created by man, such as the Constitution, laws passed by Congress, state and local laws. Natural law are the unwritten laws of nature and the devine.

A simple way of understanding if someone is a natural born citizen is to assume if every law passed by the government, from the Constitution to every lcal ordinance had never been written, would someone still be a citizen? if so, then they are a natural born citizen.

Unfortunately Cruz would not be, without the INA, Cruz would not be a Citizen, therefore he is not a natural born Citizen.

I believe Cruz would make an excellent President, but unfortunately he is not eligible, that is why I have a brief ready to file in the event that he tries to run.

To those who believe that is wrong, how do you choose what parts of the Constitution are worth defending?

[X-spurt]

For all of us that must have just fell off the turnip wagon, please show any Constitutional evidence of this “positive” law. Don’t believe I have heard that term previously. Not looking for what you say it means, I would like references to the term’s use as it relates to the Constitution and specifically to NBC.

[chopperman]

'Natural' means that you are naturally a citizen of just one country. 'Native' means your born on that soil. NBC and Dual Citizens are two exclusively separate sub-catagories of 'Native'.

[trebb]

Gee...wonder if....Nah....I’m sure ‘Black’ had little to do with manipulating stats.

My Dad's parents came from Poland in '28. They became citizens. He was born here in '30. Was he a natural born citizen? How about me? My daughter was born in Italy while I was stationed there. Is she a natural born citizen?

[CpnHook]

Simple question, what meaning does the word "natural" have, if "natural born citizen" equates to "born citizen"? Because according to the rule of Constitutional construction established by the Supreme Court, ALL words must be construed as having meaning! You can't skip over words.

You here appeal to the SCOTUS and invoke a general principle of interpretation employed in some cases, yet you either are unaware or are consciously disregarding that the SCOTUS has indicated the interpretive principle to be used when construing the very phrase at issue -- "natural born citizen."

In U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark the Court stated:

The Constitution of the United States, as originally adopted, uses the words "citizen of the United States," and "natural-born citizen of the United States."

* * *

The Constitution nowhere defines the meaning of these words, either by way of inclusion or of exclusion, except insofar as this is done by the affirmative declaration that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." In this as in other respects, it must be interpreted in the light of the common law, the principles and history of which were familiarly known to the framers of the Constitution.

So rule of interpretation laid down by the SCOTUS was NOT "look at each word in the phrase and determine its significance," but rather "understand 'natural born citizen' in light of the principles and history of the (English) common law." The Court then proceeds in Parts II and III of the lengthy opinion to analyze the jus soli meaning of the English common law term "natural born subject" and show how that same rule as to birth status was carried forward into the colonies and under the original Constitution through the American common law phrase "natural born citizen."

That means that "natural born citizen" carries with it the common law jus soli principle of England, NOT the continental rule suggested by Vattel. The latter was the interpretive rule urged in the Wong case by the U.S. government and the dissenting justices. It's the position that lost.