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Supremes asked: Who is 'natural born citizen?'
Decision whether Georgia case will be accepted expected in fall
WND
Bob Unruh
7/13/2012
Excerpt:
"An announcement is expected sometime in the fall on whether the U.S. Supreme Court will decide just exactly who is a “natural born citizen” as required by the U.S. Constitution for all those who would be president.
Officials with the Liberty Legal Foundation confirmed they have filed an appeal of the ruling from the state Supreme Court in Georgia, and a decision by the nation’s highest court on whether it will accept the case is expected over the coming months.
It raises two questions, including whether states can be forced to accept any candidate from a political party for presentation on state ballots even when the candidates do not meet the required qualifications.
The other is the key, “Are all individuals born on U.S. soil Article II ‘natural born citizens,’ regardless of the citizenship of their parents?”
According to a statement from Van Irion, chief of Liberty Legal, the case that stems from a Georgia dispute “is the first to present the U.S. Supreme Court with a substantive ruling on the definition of natural born citizen under the Constitution.”
“All other cases to reach the Supreme Court on this issue had been dismissed on purely procedural grounds. Liberty Legal Foundation’s case is an appeal from the Georgia courts’ substantive ruling,” he explained. “The Georgia courts refused to dismiss our case based upon procedural grounds. The Georgia courts reached the substantive issue, what is a natural born citizen.
“They ruled incorrectly, but that ruling does allow us to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to address the definition of natural born citizen, instead of simply addressing a procedural issue,” the explanation said.
“Now the U.S. Supreme Court has an opportunity to address the definition of natural born citizen, our substantive issue.”
“The petitioners’ challenge in Georgia state court was based upon an uncontested fact: that the respondent’s father was not a U.S. citizen; and upon the legal conclusion that a person must have two U.S. citizen parents to be a natural born citizen under Article II of the U.S. Constitution,” the brief to the high court explains. “The Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings and Secretary of State ruled that any person born on U.S. soil is a ‘natural born citizen’ as that term is use[d] in Article II of the U.S. Constitution, regardless of the citizenship of the person’s parents.”
But the brief argues that conclusion turns states’ rights on their head, because it would allow a political party to demand anyone be on a state election ballot, regardless of what the election code might require.
In Georgia, the law requires, “Every candidate for federal and state office … shall meet the constitutional and statutory qualifications for holding the office being sought.”
But the state’s ability to require candidates be qualified is separate from the right of political parties to choose their own candidates, the case argues.
“The right to associate easily coexists with the state’s right to determine the manner of choosing its presidential electors,” the brief argues. “Georgia code does not interfere with the autonomy of any political party’s internal decision making because it does not prohibit the parties from submitting any name…
“The political parties are free to submit Saddam Hussein or Mickey Mouse… However, Georgia is not required to accept such submissions and waste taxpayer money on ballots for such candidates.”
Under the state rulings, “the political parties could choose to list former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton as candidates for the presidential primary, despite the fact that both President Bush and President Clinton are disqualified to run for that office gain by the 22nd Amendment. … Upon such listing the state of Georgia would have no choice but to place these candidates’ names on its ballots.”
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View the complete article at:
http://www.wnd.com/2012/07/supremes-...-born-citizen/
Decision whether Georgia case will be accepted expected in fall
WND
Bob Unruh
7/13/2012
Excerpt:
"An announcement is expected sometime in the fall on whether the U.S. Supreme Court will decide just exactly who is a “natural born citizen” as required by the U.S. Constitution for all those who would be president.
Officials with the Liberty Legal Foundation confirmed they have filed an appeal of the ruling from the state Supreme Court in Georgia, and a decision by the nation’s highest court on whether it will accept the case is expected over the coming months.
It raises two questions, including whether states can be forced to accept any candidate from a political party for presentation on state ballots even when the candidates do not meet the required qualifications.
The other is the key, “Are all individuals born on U.S. soil Article II ‘natural born citizens,’ regardless of the citizenship of their parents?”
According to a statement from Van Irion, chief of Liberty Legal, the case that stems from a Georgia dispute “is the first to present the U.S. Supreme Court with a substantive ruling on the definition of natural born citizen under the Constitution.”
“All other cases to reach the Supreme Court on this issue had been dismissed on purely procedural grounds. Liberty Legal Foundation’s case is an appeal from the Georgia courts’ substantive ruling,” he explained. “The Georgia courts refused to dismiss our case based upon procedural grounds. The Georgia courts reached the substantive issue, what is a natural born citizen.
“They ruled incorrectly, but that ruling does allow us to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to address the definition of natural born citizen, instead of simply addressing a procedural issue,” the explanation said.
“Now the U.S. Supreme Court has an opportunity to address the definition of natural born citizen, our substantive issue.”
“The petitioners’ challenge in Georgia state court was based upon an uncontested fact: that the respondent’s father was not a U.S. citizen; and upon the legal conclusion that a person must have two U.S. citizen parents to be a natural born citizen under Article II of the U.S. Constitution,” the brief to the high court explains. “The Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings and Secretary of State ruled that any person born on U.S. soil is a ‘natural born citizen’ as that term is use[d] in Article II of the U.S. Constitution, regardless of the citizenship of the person’s parents.”
But the brief argues that conclusion turns states’ rights on their head, because it would allow a political party to demand anyone be on a state election ballot, regardless of what the election code might require.
In Georgia, the law requires, “Every candidate for federal and state office … shall meet the constitutional and statutory qualifications for holding the office being sought.”
But the state’s ability to require candidates be qualified is separate from the right of political parties to choose their own candidates, the case argues.
“The right to associate easily coexists with the state’s right to determine the manner of choosing its presidential electors,” the brief argues. “Georgia code does not interfere with the autonomy of any political party’s internal decision making because it does not prohibit the parties from submitting any name…
“The political parties are free to submit Saddam Hussein or Mickey Mouse… However, Georgia is not required to accept such submissions and waste taxpayer money on ballots for such candidates.”
Under the state rulings, “the political parties could choose to list former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton as candidates for the presidential primary, despite the fact that both President Bush and President Clinton are disqualified to run for that office gain by the 22nd Amendment. … Upon such listing the state of Georgia would have no choice but to place these candidates’ names on its ballots.”
.............................
View the complete article at:
http://www.wnd.com/2012/07/supremes-...-born-citizen/