Posted on 10/19/2008 7:42:40 PM PDT by NoobRep
So, why is it taking so long? What is the judge waiting for?
It has been 59 days since Philip Berg's lawsuit against Barack Obama fell into my lap as I read through the day's civil cases in the Clerk's Office at the USDC Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Hurricane Ike was bearing down on the Gulf coast, the GOP was preparing for their convention in Minneapolis, and John McCain was still a week away from naming Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate and was down in the polls further than he is now.
Service was completed quickly on the Federal Election Commission, but not so quickly on Obama and the DNC due to a mixup on some level. Obama was served at his Washington, D.C. office on September 4. Since then, there have been almost a dozen pleadings filed by both parties and intervenors as well.
And, as the fourth of November looms large, people are wondering why the Hon R. Barclay Surrick--a Clinton appointee and, according to campaign finance records, possibly a republican--has not yet handed down a decision in the case.
Before I get to the conjecture, two quick facts -- first, Judge Surrick is well within his discretion to take as much time as he needs and, second, no judge likes to be overturned. Furthermore, I know a few people who have clerked for Judge Surrick in the past, and by all accounts he is careful, deliberative, extremely fair, and likes to write his own opinions and orders. Perhaps it was that careful and deliberative nature which contributed to his decision not to toss Berg's suit either at the moment it first appeared on his desk or at the hearing for the [denied] temporary restraining order. Regardless, the case is still open, and you want to know why.
Of course, there's the chance that the judge doesn't want to render a decision until after the election so as to avoid media attention. Other than that, I have a few guesses, three of which I'm prepared to share:
My first guess, and possibly the safest, is that these things simply take time. Judge Surrick's reputation for being deliberative and fair is no mistake, and he will likely send down an order soon dealing with all open pleadings at once.
My second guess, still fairly safe, is that Judge Surrick is waiting until after October 21, when the answer to the original complaint is due from the Federal Election Commission (which gets the extended 60 days to file because of its status as a government agency), before handing down a decision on discovery, on the motion to dismiss, or anything else.
My third guess, hardly as safe, is that Judge Surrick knows that it takes a certain amount of time for an appeal to get started in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and is waiting until past the proverbial point-of-no-return relative to Election Day before handing down a decision on any or all of the pending pleadings. That way, whatever the decision may be, it will be more apt to affect the election in one way or another.
Berg has a couple of options as well.
First, he can wait, which I can only imagine is frustrating and difficult as the primary concern from which his action arose was the avoidance of a "constitutional crisis." Remember, please, that even in the days following the filing of the suit, Berg was hoping to make an immediate impact and was hoping that Obama could be enjoined from campaigning prior to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Second, he can file a petition for a writ of mandamus, essentially asking a higher court to order that the district court and Judge Surrick render a decision in the case. He could feasibly file the petition with the Third Circuit or even the U.S. Supreme Court. While this could push things along quickly, I cannot imagine that a judge enjoys having a lawyer go over his or her head.
Personally, while every fiber of my being makes me believe that Berg's case will be dismissed for lack of standing, I get this unexplainable, nagging, sneaking, itching suspicion, like a hair standing up on the back of my neck, that Judge Surrick will come down on Berg's side and grant the motion for expedited discovery. There is a standard for voter standing, of course, but even that standard has undergone some changes over the years, most famously I would imagine in the White Primary Cases.
If rules never changed, the casebooks in my home office-slash-guest room would be a whole lot thinner and I wouldn't be up as late reading. Standards adapt, tests become more and less inclusive. The sneaking suspicion is probably wrong and the feeling on the back of my neck probably nothing, but I won't know for sure until that order comes down.
In the meantime, keep checking here for updates. My contacts at the courthouse should ensure that I--and therefore you--get the information as soon as it becomes available.
The point of filing the case in Pennsylvania is a) Berg lives in Pennsylvania (is the former deputy attorney general of PA) and b) If 0bama is disqualified from the ballot in Pennsylvania, he cannot win. 0bama isn’t expected to win Montana, so ballot disqualification there would have zero impact on the election.
There is no proof of this and no records of a prior marriage Just because Barack said this does not make it so. The divorce filings in 1964 do not reflect this, either.
If it is not a hoax, it will interesting to learn what Michell Ma Bell Obama had to say to API about his adoption of his Indonesian stepfather Lolo Soetoro!!!
bIlluminati.....if you believe that clip is of use, email it to Berg and keep us posted. (I believe he’s covered the legalities of this case 100x over sideways)
bho better be prepared to leave the country if this goes down like it should. It will be one of the greatest con jobs of all time and at the expense of the entire democratic party. LMAO
Don't forget PA is Hillary country!!!
Moreover, even if Sen. Obama could have somehow been deemed “natural born,” that citizenship was lost in or around 1967 when he and his mother took up residency in Indonesia, where Stanley Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian citizen. Berg also states that he possesses copies of Sen. Obama’s registration to Fransiskus Assisi School In Jakarta, Indonesia which clearly show that he was registered under the name “Barry Soetoro” and his citizenship listed as Indonesian.
United States Code
Title 8 Aliens and Nationality
Chapter 12 - Immigration and Nationality
Subchapter III - Nationality and Naturalization
Article Part I - Nationality at Birth and Collective Naturalization
Section 1409 - Children Born Out of Wedlock
(c) Notwithstanding the provision of subsection (a) of this section, a person born, after December 23, 1952, outside the United States and out of wedlock shall be held to have acquired at birth the nationality status of his mother, if the mother had the nationality of the United States at the time of such person’s birth, and if the mother had previously been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year.
This was formerly in section 309 (as of the date of Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.’s birth).
So Indonesian citizenshiip matters legally. However, Barack Hussein Obame, Jr.’s lying about his place of birth is not good politically, if the facts get out to the general voting public.
He’d have to come up with 425 million to pay back his donors.
Do you have a valid source for that ???
ping please
No, I don’t. I am not a lawyer, and so I’d want a lawyer versed in family and immigration law to sort this out.
The relevant part is that if a judge is looking at citizenship, he has to determine both the law and the facts. The law is clear enough: If Obama is not determined by the court as a bastard, then Obama is not a natural-born U.S. citizen. If Obama is determined by the court as a bastard, then he is not, by U.S. law, a citizen of Kenya.
Then there is Indonesian citizenship to work out. Discovery is to get the facts that plaintiff and defendant want into the record. The judge can only rule on the facts that make it into the record.
I needed an official birth certificate, original SSI card, fingerprints, and I don’t know what else, just to substitute teach, before they would hire me.
Obama wrote in his book about his fear to face his parent’s marital status.
This is depressing.
Correct me if I am wrong, but can’t Muslims have more than one wife?
Please add me to your ping list too.
Some should have filed in Florida, Ohio, Virgina , Michigan, even California .
Convoluted mess
“We do know one thing for sure ... the Obama supporters will have riots all over America before or after the election.”
That would likely happen if Obama didn’t win - regardless.
The media would then of course blame it on the Republicans.
That's what I think this case is actually about. Some embarrassing fact (born in Kenya, when he said he wasn't, or Barack,Sr is not his dad......)
What happens if there is no elected President even after Jan 20th ? ... what if this thing drags on ?
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