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IRREFUTABLE AUTHORITY HAS SPOKEN
(Oct. 18, 2009) The Post & Email has in several articles mentioned that the Supreme Court of the United States has given the definition of what a ‘natural born citizen’ is. Since being a natural born citizen is an objective qualification and requirement of office for the U.S. President (and VP), it is important for all U.S. Citizens to understand what this term means.

http://www.thepostemail.com/2009/10/18/4-supreme-court-cases-define-natural-born-citizen/

Dicta has spoken. Binding legal authority remains silent. In none of the cases your brief article recited was the issue of natural born citizenship decisive to the holding of the case. The cited quotes are therefore dicta and lack final authority, though future courts may use such a quote in a holding and so elevate it to true precedential authority.

BTW, noting the distinction between dicta and holding isn't just legal nitpicking. Law is like medicine. The wholeness of people's lives is at stake. The dicta/holding distinction is a way of protecting people from judges who want to meander through some interesting legal issue that in the end doesn't control the outcome of the case. In that sense it is a shield against judicial malpractice. That's a good thing, and that is why, in a thing so important as trying to make the Constitution say things it is not in fact saying, I must insist, at least for my own part, on binding legal precedent, and not sidebar musings.

Peace,