As expected, the Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J. to intervene to bar President-elect Barack Obama from taking office due to the fact that he had British citizenship at birth.
There remain other pending challenges around the country but I think Obama can go ahead and write his speech.
For the full story, click here.
This just in, 10:10 AM, Dec. 15 2008: Cort Wrotnowski v. Bysiewicz, Ct. Sec. of State, Application for stay and/or injunction denied.
Say goodnight, Leo and Cort
You are most certainly welcome Vince Treacy.
And yeah, I know this nonesence has been surfacing on the bloggers net for a while now.
I have been to Leo’s site from time to time and I must say his supporters are more like a cult then anything else.
When I go to his site, I constantly read comments like this;
“Leo you are a true patriot”
“Leo God is with you, I belive he brought you here to stop Obama” “Don’t give up Leo we love and support you”
“Leo great work we will be with you to the end”
“Leo you are a true American”
“Leo, you will prival”
“Leo you will win and stop obama, GOD BLESS AMERICA”
^^
I mean it goes on and on and on.
And I won’t even mention some of the horrible and outrages comments they say about President-elect
Obama.
But, just like they were dissapointed this monday
They will be next monday, When the Surpreme Court denies Cort Wrotnowski’s case.
I am possitive they will because they didn’t make a comment on why they even denied Donofrio’s case.
Corts case is just like Donofrio’s.
It would make no sence for the Justices to grant a case they just denied.
Sorry Leo, 😉
Jasmine and Rafflaw, Thank YOU.
A googling shows that the blogs are flooded with this nonsense. Few of them come here anymore, since they get shot down quickly and leave bereft of answers. So if there is any feedback on the web, Lass’ sie nach Turley kommen! Let them come to Turley!
Donofrio is over at http://naturalborncitizen dot wordpress dot com. where he has hundreds of supporters, but he “moderates” and reserves the right to “snip” postings, so I doubt whether the any of our messages would get through. But he knows our address over here.
Jasmine,
Amen to your kudos to Vince!
@vice treacy THANK YOU!!!! I can not wait to use these facts to the “obama haters” online. They have been trying to make this “obama is british” b.s for a while now and thanks to you, I can shut them up once and for all, thanks. 🙂
Donofrio is revising and expanding his false argument that Obama was “born under the jurisdiction of Great Britain via Kenya.”
QUOTE Like it or not, rich or poor, great or strong, Democrat or Republican, Obama was born under the jurisdiction of Great Britain via Kenya. There is nothing conspiratorial about saying that. Obama has it posted on his own web site. It’s this very definition which I included in Cort’s Wrotnowski’s brief. Here’s what it says at Obama’s web portal, Fight The Smears:
When Barack Obama Jr. was born on Aug. 4,1961, in Honolulu, Kenya was a British colony, still part of the United Kingdom’s dwindling empire. As a Kenyan native, Barack Obama Sr. was a British subject whose citizenship status was governed by The British Nationality Act of 1948. That same act governed the status of Obama Sr.‘s children. (Emphasis added.)
There it is. Obama is telling you his status was “governed” by a foreign jurisdiction. This is no theory. This is a fact. UNQUOTE
It is not a fact. Donofrio crops the quotation and falsifies its meaning. He confuses jurisdiction with citizenship. He confuses a British subject with a British citizen. Here is the next sentence at the Obama website, which Donofrio always omits:
“Since Sen. Obama has neither renounced his U.S. citizenship nor sworn an oath of allegiance to Kenya, his Kenyan citizenship automatically expired on Aug. 4,1982.”
This shows that the statement in full clearly concerned citizenship, not jurisdiction.
Barack’s father was a British subject. A British law governed the citizenship status of his children. For children born outside Kenya, Britain, and the Empire, that law governed only their citizenship status. The law did not make Barack a British subject. It only made him a British, and then Kenyan, temporary conditional citizen until age 21. To become a British subject at birth, Barack had to have been born in a territory under the sovereignty of the British Crown. Since he was born in America, he could not have been a British subject by birth.
One may be a subject without being a citizen. One may be a citizen without being a subject. At his birth, Barack was a citizen and subject of the United States. He was a British-Kenyan citizen, but not a subject, until age 21, since his father had passed on Kenyan citizenship. The father did not, and could not, pass on the status of British subject to a child born in the U.S. His father could not make him a subject to the jurisdiction of Britain or Kenya.
So Obama has never posted a statement that he was “born under the jurisdiction of Great Britain via Kenya.” Donofrio has taken a statement about citizenship, ripped it out of context, and falsely claimed it referred to jurisdiction, not citizenship.
In short, Barack Obama was subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and solely to U.S. jurisdiction, at birth. He was not subject to the jurisdiction of any other country. He was not the subject of any other country. Under the terms of the Fourteenth Amendment, he was born in the United States and was subject to its jurisdiction. He therefore was and is a natural born citizen of the United States, eligible to be President.
Rafflaw, Benito is probably unused to the Turley site, but he has now learned that we smack down falsehoods and lies immediately. Obama has released his birth certificate, and there is a picture of it online. http://fightthesmears.com/articles/5/birthcertificate
Benito’s website has links to everything under the sun, except for the birth certificate. He is really behind the curve among the doubters. All of the other conspiracy theorists have moved on, and now claim that the genuine Hawaii Certification of Live Birth is a forgery, but their efforts are laughable.
Factcheck.org is an independent site, and has received and reviewed it. It is genuine.
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/has_obamas_birth_certificate_been_disclosed.html
Read em and weep.
Benito,
Do you believe that crap that you are spewing about the birth certificate. Contact the State of Hawaii and they will verify it. What more do you expect? Get a life and take your trolling wares to some other market.
One simple action that Obama has refused to do is to release his original birth certificate for all to see.
The fact that he has refused to do this and instead has lawyers running around the country, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars getting a multitude of cases dismissed trying to find out the truth of his birth and citizenship speaks volumes.
He is and has been a Public figure serving the people. There is no reason other than a huge cover-up that he has not released this document. It’s a simple piece of paper. We all “know” where and when he was born…so why the secrecy?
His refusal says it all, the ultimate scam against the United States, one that will forever shadow him, his office and be written as such in the history books. A very sad way to live your life and serve your Country.
A military person has their full medical record reviewed, tested routinely for drug use, lists all of their associations, foreign travel questioned, has their parents and loved ones investigated, has neighbors and character witnesses questioned, has their driving record and personal financials reviewed, just to name a few. All this just to be able to join the ranks and be able to serve.
We have millions of military personnel and contractors that have this screening done. Yet we can’t get Obama to release one simple, single piece of paper; his original birth certificate. He can’t expect to serve as Commander in Chief and be respected? His allegiance, his trust, his motives will forever be in question by the great military men and woman that serve our country and that is no way to lead.
@Vince treacy. As an Obama suporter I was very concerned about that Loe donofrio case but, I am happpy that the Court denied. As for Cort wrotnowski case,I agree that it will likely be denied, esp. sence none of the justices gave an opinion on why the donofrio case was denied. Usually when they deny a case without a reason why,(or a justice doesnt give an opinion), it means two things, either they dont have any interest in the case or they found the case completely with out merit. In other words the Obama haters should get used to saying, “President Obama”.
The Obama birth freaks have formed a circular firing squad and are busy shooting each other in the feet. It is really funny to watch them all sink in the same boat.
David Horowitz wrote that efforts of a fringe group of conservatives to claim that Obama is not a legitimate president are embarrassing and destructive. He said the fact that these efforts are being led by Alan Keyes, “an unhinged demagogue on the political fringe” who lost a senate election to the then unknown Obama by 42 points should be a warning in itself. Michele Malkin has also denounced the so-called truthers.
Anti-Obama Andy Martin has asked the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board to investigate the conduct of anti-Obama attorney Philip J. Berg.
QUOTE Philip J. Berg contacted me in mid-August about a complaint he proposed to file in federal court. He sent me the complaint to review, and I advised him the complaint was nonsense. He was suing the wrong parties in the wrong court for the wrong relief. Berg said he wanted to “enjoin the Democratic National Convention,” which caused me to question his sanity. He pleaded that Barack Obama was “born in Kenya” when there is not a shred of credible evidence to support this claim.
He filed his complaint and then began issuing a series of asinine news releases about the progress of his lawsuit.
Berg is playing on the vulnerability of people who intensely dislike President-elect Barack Obama, and using his inflated accusations to solicit money from the public. He constantly exaggerates or misrepresents the facts. In early September persons acting on his behalf claimed there was a “court order” for Obama to produce a birth certificate. No such order existed.
Then he claimed Obama was in “default” and had “admitted” he was born in Kenya. This was complete nonsense. As someone who is a genuine critic of Mr. Obama, I know firsthand what confusion Berg creates with his false and misleading claims. Most recently he or persons acting in concert with him have suggested that the U.S. Supreme Court “ordered” a response to his nonsense. The Court has done nothing of the sort. The court’s rules simply provide a thirty-day period for responses.
I don’t know whether Berg suffers from an emotional disturbance, or is merely a money-grubbing huckster, or what, but Berg’s behavior is undermining public faith in the integrity of the Pennsylvania legal profession.
Berg has been disciplined in the past for misconduct:
…
Lawyers are entitled to engage in vigorous advocacy. They are encouraged to extend and revise legal precedents. But they are not entitled to file delusional claims without a scintilla of support, particularly when they then use these delusional claims as a basis to solicit money from the public.
Mr. Berg has previously claimed that the U.S. Government blew up the World Trade Center, again without shred of evidence to support his nonsense.
He is a threat to vulnerable citizens who tend to believe his false claims and give him money on the false assumption that Berg is acting in good faith. By stealing small amounts of money from people across the nation he has flown under the radar of professional discipline. No competent attorney could have acted as Berg did during the past three months. His behavior in federal court, all of which is a public record, is outrageous. UNQUOTE
Leo Donofrio, who concedes that Obama was born in Hawaii in the USA, has also tossed Berg, and his claim that he was born in Kenya, under the bus. He shied away from Berg’s show at the National Press Club. That was unfortunate for him, since Dana Milbank and the national press covered it. He might have shone as the “sanest” one in the room, a relative “voice of reason.”
They are in a hole. Keep digging.
PJBurke wrote QUOTE A minor, but pertinent, quibble: the statement “the fact that he had British citizenship at birth” can be taken in a way that, I suspect, is unintended… the sentence, as written, makes unclear whether ‘the fact’ truly is a fact, whether it is plaintiff’s alleged ‘fact’ not yet proved, or whether it is a true fact which has no effect on Obama’s eligibility. I’ve been persuaded that it was an alleged ‘fact’ since proved false.UNQUOTE
This is a good question. There is a long answer at factcheck, an independent site not affiliated with Obama:
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/does_barack_obama_have_kenyan_citizenship.html
Barack Obama Jr.’s mother was a natural born American citizen. He was born in Hawaii, subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and so he was also a natural born American citizen. Barack Obama Sr. lived in Kenya and was a British subject. Obama Jr. was born in the U.S. and was a U.S. subject at the time of birth.
Per factcheck.org, At the time of his birth, Obama Jr. was both a U.S. citizen (by virtue of being born in Hawaii) and a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (or the UKC) by virtue of being born to a father who was a citizen of the UKC.
Kenya recognizes dual citizenship for children, but not for adults. At age 21, Kenyan citizens who possesses citizenship in more than one country automatically lose their Kenyan citizenship unless they formally renounce any non-Kenyan citizenship and swear an oath of allegiance to Kenya.
Factcheck concluded that since Sen. Obama has neither renounced his U.S. citizenship nor sworn an oath of allegiance to Kenya, his Kenyan citizenship automatically expired on Aug. 4,1982.
This is confirmed on Obama’s site:
http://www.fightthesmears.com/articles/5/birthcertificate
“When Barack Obama Jr. was born on Aug. 4,1961, in Honolulu, Kenya was a British colony, still part of the United Kingdom’s dwindling empire. As a Kenyan native, Barack Obama Sr. was a British subject whose citizenship status was governed by The British Nationality Act of 1948. That same act governed the status of Obama Sr.‘s children.
Since Sen. Obama has neither renounced his U.S. citizenship nor sworn an oath of allegiance to Kenya, his Kenyan citizenship automatically expired on Aug. 4,1982.”
Leo Donofrio claims Obama is NOT a “natural born” citizen of the United States because he was born a “dual-citizen”, but there is no legal or constitutional basis for that claim. Donofrio has no case law or legislation anywhere to support that proposition.
Donofrio is a little pathetic, since he crops the above quotation on his site and leaves out the expiration of Obama’s Kenyan citizenship in 1982. As I discussed in an earlier post, the “fact” of dual citizenship of both Kenya and the U.S. at birth had no effect on Obama’s status as a natural born U.S. citizen.
What happened to our friendly Trolls now that SCOTUS has turned a blind eye to their important proof that Obama was not a natural born citizen of the United States?? I have to admit, I was worried that SCOTUS might try to play some kind of game with this for political reasons, especially when I saw Justice Thomas’ name in the mix.
A minor, but pertinent, quibble: the statement “the fact that he had British citizenship at birth” can be taken in a way that, I suspect, is unintended… the sentence, as written, makes unclear whether ‘the fact’ truly is a fact, whether it is plaintiff’s alleged ‘fact’ not yet proved, or whether it is a true fact which has no effect on Obama’s eligibility. I’ve been persuaded that it was an alleged ‘fact’ since proved false.
Vince:
You really ran with this one, and correctly so.
Santa comes early kids!
FBI agents take Illinois Governor Blagojevich into custody. Federal corruption charges filed include allegations regarding President elect Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat.
I know it’s off topic, but justice is being served! Atta boy U.S. Attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald.
Vince Treacy, sincerest thanks for your most honorable and insightful work here.
And here is the upodated version, May 12, 2006:
http://www.ilw.com/immigdaily/news/2006,0725-crs.pdf
“U.S. Citizenship of Persons Born in the United States to Alien Parents” by Margaret Mikyung Lee, Legislative Attorney, American Law Division, Congressional Research Service, September 13, 2005.
This is an authoritative discussion of all the legal issues raised by the Fourteenth Amendment, along with its history and later Supreme Court interpretation, by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service. It was written long before the Obama citizenship controversy. It answers the questions raised on this site about citizenship and the 14th Amendment.
Here is the link: http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/CRS-Citizenship-Report.pdf
One of the other pending cases is No. 08A469, Cort Wrotnowski v. Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut Secretary of State. An application for stay was denied by Justice Ginsburg on Nov. 26, 2008. It was refiled and submitted to Justice Scalia on Nov. 29, 2008.
On Dec. 8th, the Application (08A469) was referred to the Court by Justice Scalia and DISTRIBUTED for Conference of December 12, 2008, this coming Friday.
The Defendant is represented by Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General of Connecticut.
The above information is from the Supreme Court docket.
Expect the Court to deny the Application by next Monday, Dec. 15th. Scalia is not necessarily doing the applicant a favor. Instead of a denial of review by a single Justice in chambers, the applicant will now be handed a denial by the entire Court, just like Donofrio.
Chief Justice Roberts is still scheduled to administer the Oath to President Obama on January 2th, 2009.
Sorry, Leo
I can say from personal knowledge that this guy isn’t East Brunswick’s finest. Neither is this guy http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080416/NEWS/804160315/1001.
What a litigious bunch!