Thread: Appeals court hears Obama birthplace arguments

Appeals court hears Obama birthplace arguments

May 2nd, 2011, 2:57 pm
Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter

President Barack Obama‘s release of his long-form birth certificate last week has done little to quell the challenges, as birthplace skeptics showed when they argued today before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena.

But the three-judge panel produced a steady stream of questions over why it should even consider the issue.

Laguna Niguel lawyer Orly Taitz told the panel about alleged birth certificate forgery, Obama’s alleged false Social Security number, and the allegedly corrupt judge that dismissed her case now under appeal.

“It was an outrage,â€

Birthers to federal court: Obama faked citizenship, ineligible to be president

May 2, 2011 | 3:33pm

A group of die-hard "birthers" took their conspiracy theory about President Obama's birthplace to a panel of federal judges Monday, urging the nation's second-most-influential court to consider what they say is evidence that the president has faked vital documents all his life and is ineligible to be head of state.

Obama last week released an official copy of his Hawaiian birth certificate, putting to rest the concerns of most of the voters who had been swayed to suspect that he wasn't a natural-born U.S. citizen and therefore wasn't qualified to run for the presidency in 2008.

But Buena Park minister Wiley Drake and the so-called birthers' legal spearhead, Orly Taitz, argued before a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that the federal judiciary needs to step in and enforce the Constitution's requirement that a sitting president be born in the United States.

Assistant U.S. Atty. David A. DeJute pointed out to the appellate judges that the case before them raised only the narrow question of whether the federal courts have jurisdiction to decide whether a president meets the constitutionally set eligibility requirements. Those political questions, including impeachment, are clearly assigned by the Constitution to Congress, not the courts, DeJute said.

The three judges, all appointees of Democratic presidents, repeatedly asked the birthers' attorneys why they waited until after the election to file their lawsuit, when they might have had standing to sue before the votes were tallied.

Taitz, a Soviet-born dentist and former real estate agent, said she had sought Congressional intervention during the campaign, when her client was waging a long-shot run for the White House, but was rebuffed. She represents Alan Keyes, who ran for president under the American Independent Party and could have challenged Obama's eligibility as a candidate potentially harmed if faced by an unqualified rival.

The hearing at the 9th Circuit courthouse in Pasadena drew an overflow crowd of birthers and media, and the Obama critics continued pressing their case outside the courthouse after the judges recessed to consider their arguments.
Taitz brandished an array of documents she contends show that Obama has falsified his birth certificate, used an illegally obtained Social Security number and provided misleading information to the Selective Service System that oversees military draft issues.

The birthers' case was dismissed two years ago by a federal district court judge on the jurisdictional issue before it could come to trial, depriving those who still insist that Obama was born abroad of a chance to put on their case. The 9th Circuit ruling on their appeal isn't likely to be issued for weeks or months.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... dency.html

9th Circuit hears arguments in Obama birth lawsuit

By GREG RISLING
Associated Press
Published: Monday, May. 2, 2011 - 2:43 pm
Last Modified: Monday, May. 2, 2011 - 4:00 pm

PASADENA, Calif. -- A federal appeals court heard arguments Monday about a lawsuit challenging the U.S. citizenship of President Barack Obama, despite the release of his detailed birth certificate last week.

A pair of Southern California attorneys, on behalf of more than 40 plaintiffs, asked a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to remand their lawsuit back to the Orange County courtroom of U.S. District Judge David Carter.

In dismissing the lawsuit in late 2009, Carter said the federal court system is not the proper venue to challenge a president's election.

The appellate panel seemed to concur, wondering how the lawsuit could have merit, given it was filed after the election and Obama had already taken office.

"You did not file a claim at the time when the kind of relief you would be talking about might be plausible," Judge Raymond Fisher said. "It doesn't do anything for your candidates now."

It wasn't immediately known when the judges would issue a ruling.

Obama produced his full birth certificate last week and said he hoped the nation could focus on more serious issues. Donald Trump, who has considered a presidential bid in 2012, took credit for getting Obama to release the document.

However, plaintiffs' attorney Orly Taitz said she believes the birth record has been falsified. Outside the courtroom, she said the document's serial number was out of sequence, the typing wasn't aligned, and it was printed on green paper instead of white paper like other Hawaiian birth records of that era.

Taitz said she wants to travel to Hawaii with a forensic document expert to look at Obama's records.

"It's not a true and correct image," said Taitz, referring to the birth certificate. "It's very inventive computer art."

Taitz and fellow lawyer Gary Kreep remain undeterred and have helped fuel the so-called "birther" movement that questions Obama's citizenship.

Both attorneys have been unable to convince courts around the nation their lawsuits have merit. Among their arguments - Obama may have dual citizenship and the president's alleged use of multiple Social Security numbers.

Taitz was ordered by a federal judge in Georgia two years ago to pay a $20,000 fine, calling her lawsuit against the president frivolous and the litigation an attempt to misuse the court system to push a political agenda.

Taitz sued in Georgia federal court on behalf of Army Capt. Connie Rhodes, who sought to avoid deployment to Iraq by claiming Obama wasn't born in the U.S.

Other plaintiffs in the case include conservative activist Alan Keyes, libertarian vice presidential write-in candidate Gail Lightfoot and other members of the military.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David DeJute acknowledged the courts may be the proper venue had a lawsuit challenging a candidate's citizenship been filed before an election.

"I think a candidate can challenge the qualification of another candidate, assuming of course that candidate does so in a timely manner," DeJute said.

For the birther movement, the 9th Circuit appeal is a difficult platform in which to make its argument. Not only are plaintiffs arguing before one of the nation's more liberal courts, they face bad timing with the recent release of Obama's birth certificate and the announcement that terrorist Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces, which gives Obama political strength.

Kreep said the case is unprecedented and shouldn't be taken lightly by Obama or the courts.

"We have a man who, whether it's true or not, arguably is not a citizen or at least a naturally born citizen of the United States and is not eligible to serve," Kreep said. "The only recourse for the people is the courts."

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/05/02/359611 ... ts-in.html