Mr. Donofrio has published yet another historical piece on Wong Kim Ark. This piece looks into the history of a document that Justice Gray relied upon in writing his decision in WKA.
He also very effectively makes the case that WKA is a horrible SCOTUS decision, which today’s court really should be forced to addressed. With the Malihi decision in Georgia an appeal-able case, it just may be possible to present before SCOTUS the means and ability to so just that.
Enjoy!
God bless you Leo! Thank you for giving us back out REAL history!
Oops!
The sentences: “God bless you Leo! Thank you for giving us back out REAL history!” should read “God bless you Leo! Thank you for giving us OUR history back!”
Folks, I have read this and checked Leo’s links. This is spot on. Gray, in WKA relied upon a PAMPHLET by Binney which incorrectly quoted the 1790 Citizenship act, then analyzed and sort of corrected that miss-quote in order to craft his holding in WKA. The Binney Document was published decades before WKA. And Gray claimed to have it in his personal library. What makes this even stinkier, is the fact that the 1790 law was revoked in 1795, making the 1790 analysis irrelevant to begin with in 1898!!! So why was Gray using a pamphlet which was published decades before on a law which was revoked 5 years after it was signed into law? Better yet, why did Gray rely on something less than the FINAL version of Binney’s paper. We may never know.
Be that as it may be.... this still remains and smells worse than a 3 week old bag of used baby diapers... If Gray had used the FINAL version of that pamphlet, he could NOT have used it in reaching his WKA holding!!!!!!
Ergo, he used the version most convenient in the decision he had already decided to make - regardless of it’s correctness in law - he went about looking for literature which would support what he wanted to write in WKA. He did NOT let the LAW tell the court how to rule, he DECIDED how he would rule, then went about justifying his decision. In this case, he had to rely upon a document which was so flawed on it’s face, that it should never have been a source with any weight to it at all.
I trust Leo’s assessment of Binney as being a good man. He made an error, attempted to correct it, and failed to accurately do so for what ever reason. SO at last, 2 months or so later, the correct version and analysis appears - sans Binney’s name. Perhaps out of embarrassment, perhaps to save he further embarrassment... what ever the reasons were. Again we may never know.
What do DO know is that Gray literally use false information to create the WKA decision and holding. How can ANYONE trust the holding in WKA? It was BASED upon inaccurate false information. That invalidates the decision!
I sure hope the Georgia attorneys get a hold of this, they are going to need it to literally dismantle WKA and THAT right there may well kill the Indiana Ankney decision as well. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.....
If WKA were decided today under the same legal conditions as present in 1898, Gray would have been unable to even WRITE the decision. If WKA were, as it was written, coming up from an appellate court in the form we see today, it would be SHREDDED by Leo’s historical analysis of the decision and holding.
I can appreciate what Leo is trying to do, but I don’t see this as the most effective way of going after the issue. It needs to be simplified to where the average voter can draw no other conclusion than Obama is not a natural-born citizen. No lower court is going to overturn a Supreme Court decision, so instead of attacking Wong Kim Ark, it’s better to show what’s right about it and how it still proves without a doubt that Obama is not a natural-born citizen. Ankeny is the new decision du jour for courts to fall back on, so we need to show how it’s wrong, but Ark is right in using and affirming Minor’s exclusive and uncontested NBC definition: all children born in the country to citizen parents.