Posted on 12/03/2008 11:43:31 PM PST by BP2
By James Wright
AFRO Staff Writer
(December 3, 2008) - In a highly unusual move, U.S. Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has asked his colleagues on the court to consider the request of an East Brunswick, N.J. attorney who has filed a lawsuit challenging President-elect Barack Obamas status as a United States citizen.
Thomass action took place after Justice David Souter had rejected a petition known as an application for a stay of writ of certiorari that asked the court to prevent the meeting of the Electoral College on Dec. 15, which will certify Obama as the 44th president of the United States and its first African-American president.
The court has scheduled a Dec. 5 conference on the writ -- just 10 days before the Electoral College meets.
The high courts only African American is bringing the matter to his colleagues as a result of the writ that was filed by attorney Leo Donofrio. Donofrio sued the New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Wells, contending that Obama was not qualified to be on the states presidential ballot because of Donofrios own questions about Obama citizenship.
Donofrio is a retired lawyer who identifies himself as a citizens advocate. The AFRO learned that he is a contributor to naturalborncitizen.wordpress.com, a Web site that raises questions about Obamas citizenship.
Calls made to Donofrios residence were not returned to the AFRO by press time.
Donofrio is questioning Obamas citizenship because the former Illinois senator, whose mom was from Kansas, was born in Hawaii and his father was a Kenyan national. Therefore, Donofrio argues, Obamas dual citizenship does not make Obama a natural born citizen as required by Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution, which states:
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President
...to prevent the meeting of the Electoral College on Dec. 15, which
will certify Obama as the 44th president of the United States...
Donofrio had initially tried to remove the names not only of Obama, but also the names of Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain and Socialist Workers Party Roger Calero from appearing on the Nov. 4 general election ballot in his home state of New Jersey.
McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone when it was a U.S. possession. Calero would be ineligible to be president because he was born in Nicaragua.
After his efforts were unsuccessful in the New Jersey court system, he decided to take his case to a higher level.
On Nov. 6, Souter denied the stay. Donofrio, following the rules of the procedure for the Supreme Court, re-submitted the application as an emergency stay in accordance to Rule 22, which states, in part, that an emergency stay can be given to another justice, which is the choice of the petitioner.
Donofrios choice was Thomas. He submitted the emergency stay to Thomass office on Nov. 14. Thomas accepted the application on Nov. 19 and on that day, submitted it for consideration by his eight colleagues - known as a conference - and scheduled it for Dec. 5.
On Nov. 26, a supplemental brief was filed by Donofrio to the clerks office of the Supreme Court. A letter to the court explaining the reason for the emergency stay was filed on Dec. 1 at the clerks office.
Thomass actions were rare because, by custom, when a justice rejects a petition from his own circuit, the matter is dead. Even if, as can be the case under Rule 22, the matter can be submitted to another justice for consideration, that justice out of respect, will reject it also, said Trevor Morrison, a professor of law at Columbia University School of Law.
Morrison said that Thomass actions are once in a decade. When that does happen, the case has to be of an extraordinary nature and this does not fit that circumstance, he said. My guess would be that Thomas accepted the case so it would go before the conference where it will likely be denied. If Thomas denied the petition, then Donofrio would be free to go to the other justices for their consideration.
This way, I would guess, the matter would be done with. Petitions of Donofrios types are hardly ever granted.
Traditionally, justices do not respond to media queries, according to a spokesman from the Supreme Court Public Information Office.
Thomas was appointed to the Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and has been one of its most conservative members.
Before his ascension to the court, he was appointed by Bush to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Earlier, he served as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - appointed by President Reagan - and worked various jobs under former Republican Sen. John Danforth.
It would take a simple majority of five justices to put Donofrios emergency stay on the oral argument docket. Because it is an emergency by design, the argument would take place within days.
Donofrio wants the court to order the Electoral College to postpone its Dec. 15 proceedings until it rules on the Obama citizenship. He is using the 2000 case Bush vs. Gore case as precedent, arguing that it is of such compelling national interest that it should be given priority over other cases on the courts docket.
The same conditions apply here, Donofrio said in his letter to the court, as the clock is ticking down to Dec. 15, the day for the Electoral College to meet.
Audrey Singer, a senior fellow at Washingtons Brookings Institution, who is an expert on immigration, said that the Donofrio matter is going nowhere.
There is no way that anyone can argue about whether Barack Obama is a citizen, Singer said. In this country, we have a system known as jus soli or birthright by citizenship. You are a citizen by being born on American soil and he (Obama) was born in Hawaii.
Singer said that Donofrios argument that Obamas father was a Kenyan national does not matter because citizenship is not based on parentage, but on where someone was born.
This is the issue that some people have with illegal aliens in our country, she said. Children of illegal aliens, if they are born in the United States, are U.S. citizens. That is in the U.S. Constitution.
Actually, she could. As I understand it, there was a time window after he reached majority when Obama could have voided the renunciation, but he did not. And that time window has long since past.
Thanks for the ping!
Bingo! That’s It!
“When they examine his BC, if they find it is not valid, Thomas will be screwed for the rest of his life. He will be seen as a traitor to his race.”
99% of Obama’s racist, aka black voters, believe that Clarence Thomas is a traitor to blacks since he is a conservative Republican. He can never be “Black” enough to satisfy them. Yet, these same idiots voted for an Oreo, whose ancestors were not black slaves in America.
**PING**
Your mistaken. U.S. citizenship is, quite rightly, one of the most precious possessions we have. And U.S. law makes it clear that citizenship can be lost only if the citizen himself gives it up. It cannot be done for you, and can only be done by you if you're an adult. So Obama would have to give it up when he was 18, not reclaim it. And he can only give it up through deliberate actions. The Supreme Court has ruled that someone cannot lose their citizenship by accident. The act must be deliberate and done with the full knowledge that the person is giving up their citizenship as a result.
I fully expect this to be sent back to district with stipulation that the NJ authorities verify Hawaiian birth for Barack Obama. That of course will not settle the issues but it will punt the ball out of the SCOTUS sty covered in crap, to be slapped around some more. I dare say the conference session will be one of the most volatile in recent years and that Justice Thomas will make a very compelling case that this man has not shown his Constitutional eligibility and in fact has spent a million dollars try to hide the facts on that issue and hidden ALL documents which might help resolve the issue. But then I am absolutely convinced that Justice Clarence Thomas is one of the most intelligent, judicious, and patriotic judges to ever sit that bench. If we had eight more like him on the SCOTUS America would be standing much taller and with much more moral strength.
You’re far too clever for me.
“CLANG>>>CLANG...NOW HEAR THIS....The Supremes will order the electors to verify the candidates qualifications before they vote yea or nae....this will stop the process and force the electors to do the job that created the positions they now hold....it is not a ceremonial job but one of substance and if they certify any candidate who later proves to be unqualified ,they are subject to the laws of treason . This crap has been going on far to long and it will stop on Friday 12/5/2008 Obama bin Biden will have to put up or step down. Tomorrow is his last chance...and I for one hope to color him gone so I dont have to listen to all the dimoctrats who suffer from constipation of the brain and diarrhea of the mouth along with the absence of ideas.”
Geez, a good and logical post from a new Freeper that doesn’t sound like a Move Oner parroting what Zer0’s lawyers have told them to say.
I’m in total agreement with you, and I hope that you are correct.
The mechanism is there re/via the electoral college, if they are forced to do what they should do.
Very interesting!
Thanks!
“I, also, find it ironic that he is the only black Justice as well as the only one that Obama has made negative comments about. Not to mention the stark contrast in ideologies of these two individuals. One is upright and just in the face of adversity in life. The other is a pretender, a puppet to the individuals who own him. Thomas a man of deep moral conviction. Obama seems to change with every light breeze that blows.
It is so interesting that after all that has gone on in the lives of these two men, that Obama finds himself at the mercy of a man whom he does not seem to agree with or respect. I feel our future as well as the future of this nation hangs in the balance of this one decision. Could it be that what happened to Thomas years ago before he was sworn in was a preparing for this very moment?!! I hope and pray this is Gods way of sparing us from 4 yrs of trial and tribulation. God bless this man and be with him in this difficult season. A-men.”
Very well stated!
Welcome to FR. It’s nice to see a noob that is not a troll.
"CLANG>>>CLANG...NOW HEAR THIS....The Supremes will order the electors to verify the candidates qualifications before they vote yea or nae....this will stop the process and force the electors to do the job that created the positions they now hold....it is not a ceremonial job but one of substance and if they certify any candidate who later proves to be unqualified ,they are subject to the laws of treason . This crap has been going on far to long and it will stop on Friday 12/5/2008 Obama bin Biden will have to put up or step down. Tomorrow is his last chance...and I for one hope to color him gone so I dont have to listen to all the dimoctrats who suffer from constipation of the brain and diarrhea of the mouth along with the absence of ideas."
“This entire Obama is not a natural born citizen episode is very silly.”
ZekeNY
Since Dec 3, 2008
Zeke, move back to Move On before you try to sell us a couple of bridges in NYC.
And what is the difference between 'citizen at birth' and 'natural born citizen'?
And the Constitution specifically and explicitly prohibits "ex post facto" in the 9th Amendment ("No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.")
Actually that's Article I, Section 9. But an ex post facto law is defined as a law which makes illegal an act that was legal when it was done. It is not at all uncommong for Congress to pass legislation that is retroactive.
It's not just illegal aliens, tourists visiting from Germany or Spain, etc., a woman who happens to be pregnant and gives birth during the visit, they are not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" so that baby is NOT an American citizen, though he was born on U.S. soil.
Squirreled away in my closet are some (supposedly) high-quality photocopies of several documents including the Constitution. That comma is in the original too. It hasn’t been added as far as I can tell. If I knew how to do it, I’d scan that section and post it here but I have to plead techno-ignorance as my defense.
If you were being honest, you would note that the 1790 law you cited was cancelled and replaced in 1792, specifically because the issue of natural born citizen needed better definition.
That's not the right approach. The Justices will also be aware that the Electors can vote for Obama anyway with the understanding that Obama will immediately pardon all electors for all crimes. Presidential pardon powers are near absolute (can't pardon himself)
There will have to be a different strategy.
With exception of whomever it was who coined the title to the article -- Thomas isn't "forcing" anything, as the writer correctly states it, he is asking his colleagues to consider. Geez.
I can’t remember — who was it that badmouthed Thomas during the election campaign?
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.