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Vt. Supreme Court hears case challenging legality of Barack Obama's run for re-election
http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2013/05/vt-supreme-court-hears-case-challenging.html
Vt. Supreme Court hears case challenging legality of Barack Obama's run for re-election
Former Republican U.S. Senate hopeful brings case saying Obama is not a 'natural citizen'
President Barack Obama may be the “de facto” president of the United States, but that doesn’t mean he was elected legally, a former Republican U.S. Senate hopeful told the Vermont Supreme Court on Tuesday.
H. Brooke Paige, appearing without a lawyer before the state’s highest court, said Obama does not meet what the framers of the U.S. Constitution meant when they decreed that a person holding the presidency must be a “natural born citizen.”
Paige has contended historical papers that the framers relied on at the time the Constitution was written indicated a natural-born citizen was someone who was born of parents who were both American citizens. Obama’s father, now deceased, was a citizen of Kenya.
The argument was rejected by Washington Superior Court Judge Robert Bent in a ruling in November. Bent, in a seven-page decision, said Paige had no real proof to support his definition of the term natural-born citizen.
Paige, of the town of Washington, appealed to decision to the high court. At Tuesday’s hearing he told the justices he was not challenging Obama’s citizenship, as the so-called “birthers” group has contended.
“Don’t pay any attention to them,” he told the justices. “The birther argument is just a sheer flight
of fancy.”
Obama, who was named in Paige’s original lawsuit, was not represented at Tuesday’s hearing. Paige said he was unable to get anyone to successfully serve Obama with his lawsuit, a predicament Justice John Dooley said concerned him.
“How can the court issue an order when he is not a party to the case,” Dooley asked. Paige said Obama “chose not to be present” and that copies of all of the filings in the case had been sent by registered mail to the White House.
Justice Brian Burgess questioned whether it was necessary for the court to make a ruling now that the election was over.
Paige said it is likely the natural-born citizen issue would arise in the future, noting there are several high-profile Republicans with possible presidential aspirations who were born to at least one parent who was not an American citizen.
“We need to sort this out,” Paige said.
Assistant Attorney General Todd Daloz, representing Secretary of State James Condos, told the justices that Paige did not have standing to bring the lawsuit.
“It’s not exactly clear what the injury is,” Daloz said.
As the hearing ended, Paige called out to the justices and began walking toward them as they were departing the courtroom, hoping to give each of them copies of “The Law of Nations,” the 867-page book first published in 1773 by Emer de Vattel.
Paige has claimed the framers relied on “The Law of Nations” when they inserted the term natural born citizens into the Constitution as a presidential requirement.
“Don’t approach,” an alarmed Justice Marilyn Skoglund told Paige. He was instead advised to leave the five copies of the thick book with a court clerk.
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