Judge Blocks Birther Lawsuit In Vermont

The Huffington Post By John Celock
Posted: 11/16/2012 3:31 pm EST Updated: 11/16/2012 3:41 pm EST

A Vermont state judge has blocked a birther lawsuit to disqualify President Barack Obama from the state's ballot, while birther queen Orly Taitz claims a "superhuman effort" in the birther movement.

Vermont Superior Court Judge Robert Bent ruled Wednesday that H. Brooke Paige's suit to remove Obama from Vermont's presidential ballot in last week's election was invalid since Paige filed the suit in state court and not federal court, the Burlington Free Press reports. Paige, who unsuccessfully sought a U.S. Senate seat this year, claimed that Obama was not a citizen since neither of his parents were citizens.

The Burlington Free Press reports:
Bent cited a 2009 decision by an Indiana court that addressed a similar claim and concluded the natural-born-citizen challenge to Obama’s claim on the presidency lacked merit.“The expression ‘natural born citizen’ is not dependent on the nationality of the parents but reflects the status of a person born into citizenship instead of having citizenship subsequently bestowed,” Bent wrote.
Obama won Vermont's three electoral votes over former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in last week's election. Disqualifying Obama from the ballot would make Romney the winner of the state.

The birther movement has used a series of lawsuits in federal and state courts nationwide to claim that Obama was born in Kenya and not eligible to be president. This week, Taitz filed new papers with a federal court in Mississippi in an effort to get Obama removed from the ballot in that state. Romney won Mississippi's electoral votes. In the Mississippi case, Taitz cited her work on the birther movement.

"As stated previously, Taitz made a superhuman effort of working 24/7 for 4 years in gathering information and serving defendants with subpoenas to appear in court and provide evidence," Taitz wrote in the court papers.

Taitz and her allies also have tried to use a series of state election boards to disqualify Obama, including a November 2011 appearance before a New Hampshire state board, which led to an argument that caused several state officials to flee and seek shelter in a locked room.

In September, the Kansas Objections Board briefly considered a case to remove Obama from the state's ballot, on the grounds that citizenship comes "primarily" from the father and Obama's father was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Kenya. The case was dropped after Joe Montgomery, who filed the objection, withdrew it, citing undisclosed threats.

Taitz tried to continue the Kansas objection, including filing a lawsuit against Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), saying that Kobach did not follow her advice. The Kansas case is still pending.

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