US judge knocks down ‘birthers’ challenge to Obama presidency’
By IANSThursday, October 29, 2009
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has room to relax a bit now with the dismissal of a challenge to his presidency in a lawsuit that claimed he is ineligible to the nation’s highest office because he isn’t a bona fide US citizen.
In a 30-page ruling, US District Judge David O. Carter of California threw out the case on technical grounds saying his court lacked the jurisdiction to rule on a case intended to unseat a sitting president.
The lawsuit represented the claim by the so-called “birthers” movement that Obama was not born in Hawaii - despite a birth certificate to the contrary - or that if he was, his citizenship was invalidated by living overseas as a child.
Carter’s ruling said the plaintiffs were trying to persuade him to “disregard the constitutional procedures in place for the removal of a sitting president.”
“The process for removal of a sitting president - removal for any reason - is within the province of Congress, not the courts,” the ruling said.
Carter’s ruling also noted that the plaintiffs “have attacked the judiciary, including every prior court that has dismissed their claim, as unpatriotic and even treasonous for refusing to grant their requests and for adhering to the terms of the Constitution.”
“Respecting the constitutional role and jurisdiction of this court is not unpatriotic,” the ruling said. “Quite the contrary, this court considers commitment to that constitutional role to be the ultimate reflection of patriotism.”
