Court won't review Obama's eligibility to serve

[meegbear]

Source: AP / HuffingtonPost.com

The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.

The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election. Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth _ his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject _ he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.

Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican John McCain and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.

At least one other appeal over Obama's citizenship remains at the court. Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., argues that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Obama says and the Hawaii secretary of state has confirmed. Berg says Obama also may be a citizen of Indonesia, where he lived as a boy. Federal courts in Pennsylvania have dismissed Berg's lawsuit.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20081208/scotus-obama/

[bdamomma]

1. Donofrio got his a$$ kicked--good

[Newsjock]

3. Clarence Thomas got his a$$ kicked, too

Good.

[sharp_stick]

14. Hate to say something not nasty about Thomas

but he didn't do anything wrong with this case. Putting it to the court for this just got it out of the way so the loser wouldn't keep handing it to other justices. His sending it to the whole court just got it punted faster and it's routine procedure.

C. Thomas is still a major asshole with a tiny intellect and I think he should be impeached, disbarred and laughed at but he didn't do anything out of the ordinary here.

[still_one]

37. Thomas did NOT do it for that reason. In fact he went against other justices

in even considering this

The lower courts have already thrown this out because it has no relevence, and other Supreme Court justices already knew that

Thomas wanted bring this up, not because of its validity, but to perpetrate doubt

[sharp_stick]

44. Oh come on

that's just not right. The court did not consider this, plain and simple. They denied cert along with hundreds of other whacko cases, it's simply routine.

[Tesibria]

70. I agree - Thomas followed rather standard procedure

I did a browse through several months of the SCOTUS docket - and in every single situation I found where an application was denied by the first judge and submitted to a second judge - the second judge referred the application to the court; court added it to conference.

Also read that this was standard procedure in several articles (will try to find the links for anyone interested).

[beac]

77. Impeached, Disbarred and Laughedat sounds like the PERFECT name for

the consulting firm that all the disgraced GOPers should form. Though I guess they'd really have to substitute "Convicted" for "Impeached" since impeachment less common than sightings of Sasquatch these days.

Yeah, I can see the letterhead now...

Convicted, Disbarred & Laughedat
Scoffs At Law

PARTNERS
The Dishonorable Tom Delay
The Wretched Jack Ambramoff
The Miserable Scooter Libby
The Pathetic Bob Ney
The Clueless Alberto Gonzales
The Hypocritical Larry Craig
The Undead Kennyboy Lay

[onenote]

63. as has been explained a number of times, Thomas didn't get his "ass kicked"

He followed standard court protocol by refusing to act on the petition it was presented to him after being deniede by Souter and instead referring it to the full court for disposition. If he had granted the petition (reversing Souter) and then the entire court reversed him, then his ass would've been kicked. But that didn't happen and there is no indication what his views were on whether the petition should've been granted other than the fact that when he had the chance to grant it, he didn't.

He's the worst justice in history, but this time he actually did exactly what any justice would have done in the circumstances (the circumstances being that he was the second justice to be asked to rule).

[NBachers]

84. But C-Tom was our last hope

He must be in on it, too.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

2. Good.

[maddezmom]

4. (Supreme)Court won't review Obama's eligibility to serve(Donofrio case)

Source: AP

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.

The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election. Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth — his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject — he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.

Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican John McCain and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081208/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_obama;_ylt=AtWB3XrY0qTmjD4UlhHGDYhMEP0E

[bdamomma]

5. oh my, I hear exploding heads.

from those who want to thwart this presidency.

[saltpoint]

6. Quick -- someone hide Brit Hume's dog.

[midnight]

7. I had no idea this was being argued at the supreme court level?

I did see a you tube video showing an explaination from an attorney arguing the birth certificate issue.

[Robbien]

11. When it is a GOPer hot topic item, they get access to the courts

Even some GOPer guy whining that he took a look at an online birth certificate and in his mind believes that certificate is fake gets Supreme Court attention.

[sharp_stick]

15. It wasn't argued

it was submitted and rejected as are almost all crazy cases submitted.

[No Elephants]

32. Even if it was not argued to the SCOTUS, it was argued in at least two lower courts.

[onenote]

68. actually, that's not exactly true either

In both the berg and donofrio cases, the lower courts did not consider the merits of the claim. Rather they threw the cases out because the plaintiffs didn't have the legal standing to bring the case.

[Tesibria]

71. Donofrio *not* thrown out for lack of standing

Just as FYI, Donofrio was not thrown out of lower NJ courts for lack of standing. The courts didn't address that issue. They denied his stay application "on the merits" - i.e., rejecting his claim that SOS failed to comply with state law, etc.

[Princess Turandot]

21. The case itself was not submitted to be argued in SCOTUS on the facts..

The plaintiff wanted the court to review his ability to sue on this matter in a lower court, from which it had already been tossed, *I think* because he had no standing. Had they agreed to hear his emergency appeal and then agreed with him, it would have sent the case back to a lower court for it to be tried on the facts.

[Coventina]

8. I must say, I'm pleasantly surprised

Since the SC has a past history of deciding who should be president.

:mad:

I guess this case was beyond the pale, even for them.....

[northernlights]

51. maybe I'm overly optimistic...

but I like to hope that maybe they learned that they're not real good at picking presidents....

[Cha]

95. Brawawawawaa

bush a little too much even for their extreme agenda?

[onehandle]

9. Damn! I wanted a reason to push for the impeachment of Clarence Thomas.

Oh, well. The court stays right-wing for the next few decades.

Thanks, Ralph.

[tavalon]

57. You think an impeachment of Clarence Thomas is what's needed to drag the court left?

Some of those justices are pretty damn old. Obama has the helm for at least 4 years and likely 8 years. He'll be appointing a few.

[onehandle]

60. The court will stay the same balance for Obama's eight years.

Obama will replace several left leaners with more left leaners.

The majority right wingers will be there long after Obama is gone.

Hope for well timed Democrats after 2016.

[onenote]

66. it would've taken five justices to get the case heard

Thomas did nothing different than any other justice would've done, under standard SCOTUS procedure, when presented with an emergency petition that had been turned down by another Justice. When that happens, the protocal is for the second justice receiving the petition to neither grant nor deny it, but rather to refer it to the full court for disposition.

Thomas is a useless waste on the court, but he didn't do anything wrong this time.

[babylonsister]

10. Can they get any more whacky? What's next?! nt

[acmavm]

12. Bwahahahahahahaha! Wonder who Clarence is gonna blame

for this. It surely couldn't be that he's a hack, could it?

He doesn't belong on the SCOTUS.

[gratuitous]

13. Slappy will blame who he's always blamed

The racists who are trying to keep him down.

[FailureToCommunicate]

56. "Clarence the Clown, don't mess around, even tho The Man, try to put him

Down. (Ah, the old songs are the best)

[Jim__]

16. This should bring 'em out of the woodwork.

We need strict constructionist judges!!!! :eyes:

[SemperEadem]

17. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Oh what was that their boy limpnutz said to Dems and Progressives when Bush v Gore back landed in 2000? Yeah, that little thing.

[balantz]

18. As a critic of Obama and ALL politicians, I say this is good news.

It was really an asinine thing anyway, no wonder they threw it out. It would have made the Justices look more like clowns than they already do.

[santamargarita]

19. Stick that up your right-wing ass!

:nopity:

[Botany]

20. Supreme Court is filled w/ liberals .... Freeper Talk

To: dman4384
Something to hide? Yep, not a doubt in my mind.

But, more importantly, the US Constitution has been dealt another blow by the Liberals.

I fear for the future of this grand experiment.


12 posted on 12/08/2008 7:19:41 AM PST by PubliusMM (RKBA; a matter of fact, not opinion)
< Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies>

[SemperEadem]

26. Oh, NOW a constitution exists?

Didn't exist in 2000 and we had to just shut up and get over it.

Will that be one shot or two shots of your owm medicine?

[DirtyJersey]

43. Even most Freepers saw through this

This birth certificate thing has really shown the true nutjobs. There's a guy in my office who swears Obama was born in Kenya. At least this case didn't try to say that - it was claiming that because his father was a British citizen, he could not have been a natural born citizen. At least that's based on fact, even if there's no legal argument.

[yardwork]

90. This was all about xenophobia and racism.

The people who are freaked at the thought of a president with a *foreign-born father* are the only ones taking this seriously.

[DirtyJersey]

94. Absolutely

There's absolutely no reason to think he was born in Kenya, other than he has dark skin and a funny name. They claim they want to uphold the Constitution - even putting aside the many ways Republicans have shat all over the Constitution, I don't remember them asking Kerry, Gore, or Clinton to "prove" they were born here.

[unpossibles]

22. Awesome. Sadly, of course, this won't stop freepers from believing in this BS

Any more than the easily and often debunked Clinton "body count" stopped - they still believe that crap too. In fact, now they'll just say ZOMG CONSPIRASY!!!1!LIBRAL ACTAVIST JUDJES!!1! and keep on keepin on being complete dumbasses.

[AlbertCat]

30. C'mon!

They don't like art or music or liturature....that's not for 14 year old boys....they hate everybody who is not just like them....which is no one.

Without these crazy conspiracies....they have no reason to live.

[SemperEadem]

23. well, the Berg case is just as dead

the court is basically saying that the birth requirement was sufficient enough for them to not consider the British angle from his father to have enough legal merit.

[Tesibria]

72. Court said NOTHING about it

... as you will be able to tell from my website linked below, I think that the cases challenging Obama's eligiblity are bogus.

HOWEVER, facts DO matter. SCOTUS said NOTHING about the merits of Donofrio's case. So it is wrong to day taht the coutt is basically saying ... anything.

We don't - and won't - know the specific reasons for the denial of his application.

[sledgehammer]

24. Really Leo?

Really? I mean you seriously took a case to the Supreme Court on that basis? You should be barred from employment, voting, parenthood, and anything else that requires the use of a brain. Can't believe I live just a few miles from this total idiot!

[Dappleganger]

25. What a waste of the Court's time!!

This country is going to hell with this economic crisis and these idiots have nothing better to contribute to their country than this?? Why do they hate America so much?

[scytherius]

27. Well, no surprise. Freepers will believe anything. nt

nt

[nxylas]

28. When is the Berg case up before the Supremes?

How long before that gets dismissed heard?

[Tesibria]

74. Berg's SCOTUS writ will probably be scheduled for conference

in the next week, as FEC et al waived right to file responding briefs on Dec. 1.

Berg's THIRD CIRCUIT emergency stay will be heard, likely, sometime around Christmas. (DNC/Obama/FEC briefs are due Dec. 19th).

It is unknown/unclear when Berg's THIRD CIRCUIT appeal (the actual appeal, vs. his various emergency motions) will be heard. Briefing schedule has not yet been set.

[nxylas]

76. Is there a point at which they have to stop bringing these nuisance cases?

I already see them saying "this wasn't the real case, the Berg case is the real case". Then when that gets thrown out, it'll be "ah, but wait for the Keyes case". Could they just keep on doing this for the next 4-8 years in order to create lingering doubts about President Obama's legitimacy?

[rurallib]

29. Be interesting to know what the vote was if there was a vote

My mind has a vision of nine people sitting around a table laughing their collective asses off.

[Tesibria]

73. vote was unanimous in denying Donofrio's application

when there is a dissent, you see it with the order. See, e.g., http://origin.www.supremecourtus.gov/orders/courtorders/120808zor.pdf - at around page 8 or 9, where you can see that Stevens dissented from two orders.

[Soylent Brice]

31. in related news... freepers across the country have been simlutaneously spontaneously combusting.

goes largely unnoticed due to the majority of them being in their mother's basements.

[muriel_volestrangler]

35. At least their mothers will get some cheap heating for the winter

to make up for having put up with the Freepers for all these years.

[Soylent Brice]

40. WORD

there's enough hot air in those gasbags for the whole winter.

[No Elephants]

38. The PUMAs seem to love this issue even more than do the Freepers. I hope ALL

their heads are exploding, all over the country, like popcorn kernels.

[Soylent Brice]

41. in that case pass the popcorn

:popcorn:

[polmaven]

55. The PUMAS???

Is there some kind of a link you can give us to blame this on Hillary?

[Yukari Yakumo]

58. More like the remaining "PUMA"s

The ones who were never really for Hillary anyway. The so-called PUMAs now comprise of nothing more than Freepers and racists.

[WonderGrunion]

65. The PUMA movement was never about supporting Hillary

It was about opposing Obama. All PUMA founders have been outed as McCain and GOP people. Attacking and exposing PUMA has nothing to do with Sen. Clinton or the noble service she does for our party and country.

[PatGund]

83. Well, you can start over at the blog "TexasDarlin"

Note, I'm not blaming Hillary on this. But a large part of the birth certificate insanity started and/or helped by people in the PUMAsphere,

Much of Berg's lawsuit, for example, are based on writings of one of "TexasDarlin's" writers, somome who goes by the name "Judah Benjamin", after the Confederate Secretary of State.

[yardwork]

91. As far as I can tell, all the PUMAs are racists, so it makes sense that this would involve them.

This is all about those folks who can't endure the thought of an African American president or a president with a foreign-born father. They simply can't wrap their heads around it - they can't stand it.

[tekisui]

33. knr. Put it to bed.

[AtomTan]

34. I'm sure all these freepers were equally up in arms about the Brooks Brothers riot in 2000.

They just want true democracy for all? Right?

[Tarc]

36. Alan Keyes still has a case going in California too

The :tinfoilhat: wearers are trying and flailing to the bitter end.

[still_one]

39. keyes is mentally ill, and the only people that agree with him are also mentally ill /nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

42. Haha. Leo (The Vowel) Donofrio gets his ass kicked.

Now get back in the kitchen and sling some spaghetti. The customers are getting hungry.

[pjt7]

45. last laugh

STFU!

[TheCowsCameHome]

46. Sayyyyyyyyyy, youse ain't wit the mob, is ya?

:7

[Ganja Ninja]

47. Well that's that. I guess the freepers will come to their senses now

and drop this insanity. :popcorn:

[kwassa]

48. Senses? They don't have no stinkin' senses!

[muntrv]

81. What senses?

[Dukkha]

49. a baseless waste of time for SCOTUS

get lost Donofrio. I believe some Wal Mart shoppers need greeted.

[Idealism]

50. There goes their Maginot Line

WWII referance, anyone?

Buehler?

[liberalitch]

52. My favorite part of the H-Post article:

"...Allegations raised on the Internet say the birth certificate, showing that Obama was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, is a fake.

But state officials in Hawaii say they checked health department records and have determined there's no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii.

The nonpartisan Web site Factcheck.org examined the original document and said it does have a raised seal and the usual evidence of a genuine document.

In addition, Factcheck.org reproduced an announcement of Obama's birth, including his parents' address in Honolulu, that was published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Aug. 13, 1961...."

[Anarcho-Socialist]

53. the crazy conspiracy theory will live on in the heads of the right-wing nutjobs

alongside the "Bill and Hill did the Oklahoma City bombing and killed Vince Foster" theories.

[happygoluckytoyou]

54. man..myth...legend... Thought he was born in a log cabin... or was it a manger... GOP SINKING ! ! !

[Bette Noir]

67. You didn't see the video?

According to no less an authority than Barack himself, "Contrary to rumor, I wasn't born in a manger. I was born on Krypton, and was sent to Earth by my father, Jor-El, to save the planet."

You've gotta watch more TV.

[graywarrior]

59. Wish I coulda been there when he got the news.

How stupid can you possibly be? I mean HOW FUCKING STUPID AN YOU POSSIBLY BE?????

[NBachers]

86. Maybe he's at some skidrow bar right now tossing back shots

of cheap rotgut and pisswater beer.

One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer . . .

[defendandprotect]

61. Great --!!

[Bette Noir]

62. Weren't all the Founding Fathers British subjects at birth?

Didn't some of them go on to become President?

Case closed.

[Jim Lane]

69. No, that particular argument doesn't fly

The eligibility clause includes anyone who was a U.S. citizen at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, a provision that's no longer of any relevance.

[stubtoe]

64. Suck it up and get over it, Donofrio. What a sore loser!

:rofl:

[nini]

75. 'GET OVER IT'

Isn't that what we heard in 2000?

They are too funny. Poor delusional morans.

[humbled_opinion]

78. Whats Next?

Obama is the Son of Malcolm X?

LOL I heard that one too.

[yardwork]

92. I've actually heard that one, too. As if it would be a BAD thing.

[kmdemqueen]

79. Are they Nuts

What a bunch of Crazy people there.

[KamaAina]

80. Duh-nofrio must have gotten confused by the Hawai'i flag

Anyone born under that must be a British subject, right? :sarcasm:

[muntrv]

82. Oh Leo! McDonald's called! They have a mountain of Big Macs

for you to serve!

[struggle4progress]

85. We haven't heard the end of this! They'll appeal to Kenya's High Court!

If that doesn't work, they'll head to the World Court! And if they lose there, they'll set the matter before the Judiciary Council of the United Federation of Planets! We're gonna hear more about this issue: count on it

:rofl:

[nxylas]

89. Now they're threatening to boycott Hawaii

Cancel your vacation! Don't buy macadamia nuts! Burn your Don Ho CDs! Hawaii must be punished for, um, something.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2145030/posts

[yardwork]

93. Freepers would be terrified to go to Hawaii. Too exotic.

They prefer ten days at Myrtle Beach. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

[Jim Sagle]

87. How wacked WAS this suit? So wacked that even MICHELLE MALKIN said it was just a buncha shit.

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/12/05/truthers-to-the-left-of-me-truthers-to-the-right/



When you've lost Popeye Malkin, you're REALLY fringe. :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[jvii]

88. NEOCONS HAVE MORE MONEY THAN BRAINS

If this is the best you can do to derail a train, you had better jump out of the way...I hope you are on a trestles about 100 stories up when you jump.


The court should charge you for wasting their time.

[arikara]

96. My uncle's going to be so disappointed...

He's been sending me updates on this issue and insisting that Obama won't be sworn in as pres because of it. When I pointed out all the inconsistencies, his comeback was that Hawaii isn't really a state so Obama can't be a citizen even if the birth certificate was valid. Unc isn't really a freeper just a weird sort of libertarian who votes for neo-conservative Harper in Canada.

I sent him the link, can't wait for his reply!

:rofl:

[MissMillie]

97. Someone humor me....

if he wasn't born in the U.S., as the right alleges, then at some point he would have had to have been "naturalized" (or MADE a citizen).... otherwise he's an illegal alien.


um.....



is that really what they're alleging?


how is it possible that they don't see the ridiculousness of their own argument?