Another 'birther' lawsuit rejected
Posted: Thursday, September 17, 2009 2:27 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Courts, Pete Williams
From NBC’s Pete Williams
Another "birther" lawsuit, challenging President Obama's constitutional qualification to be president, has been rejected in federal court. And in tossing the case out, the judge said that Congress seems satisfied that Obama is qualified, based on the unanimous passage of a House resolution dealing with Hawaii.
On July 27th, the House approved, by a vote of 378-0, a resolution to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's statehood. In extolling the state's history, the resolution says, "the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961."
"Congress is apparently satisfied that the President is qualified to serve," says federal judge Clay Land, in dismissing the case. "Congress has not instituted impeachment proceedings, and in fact, the House of Representatives in a broad bipartisan manner has rejected the suggestion that the President is not eligible for office."
The lawsuit was filed by a U.S. Army doctor at Ft. Benning, Ga., who sought to prevent the Army from deploying her to Iraq. She claimed the deployment order was unconstitutional and unenforceable because President Obama is not eligible to act as commander in chief.
The judge rejected her claim as frivolous and said she "presented no credible evidence and has made no reliable factual allegations to support her unsubstantiated, conclusory allegations and conjecture."
The doctor was represented by Orly Taitz, who has filed several lawsuits around the country challenging Obama's qualifications. Judge Clay's order says if the lawyer files any more cases like this in his court, she'll be subject to sanctions.
