It is more risky for our side. I'm pretty sure the court is going to uphold Wong Kim Ark and decide that it is the relevant precedent that matters. If they ruled the other way, it would overturn the citizenship of millions of anchor babies.
In order for them to overturn anchor babies, they would have to rule Amendment XIV did not include children born in the United States to foreign parents.
Since Amendment XIV is irrelevant to Natural Born Citizenship, it does not require any explanation thereof. They simply rule:
Natural Born Citizens are born in the United States to parents who both are, at the time of birth, Citizens of the United States.
That does in no way affect anything else in the Constitution. Problem solved.
Since Amendment XIV is irrelevant to Natural Born Citizenship, it does not require any explanation thereof. They simply rule:
There are multiple issues currently being juxtaposed.
1. Firstly, most of the lawyer types argue (Incorrectly in my opinion) that if you are "born" a citizen, then you are a "natural born citizen." This notion seems quite pervasive among the legal @ssholes i've argued with, and there is no reason to think that it isn't a ubiquitous belief among lawyer types including sitting Federal judges.
2. The 14th amendment was never intended to apply to the children of transient Aliens, but because of the ruling in Wong Kim Ark, most subsequent legal people seem to think it applies to anyone born here, including the children of Foreigners known as "anchor babies."
3. If the court holds that Number 1 is correct (born a citizen = "natural born citizen") then they have to decide if the 14th amendment actually makes citizens of the children of foreigners. To do this, they will consider the impact that it will have on the millions of people who currently claim American citizenship just because they were born here, and face the possibility that if they decide the 14th DOESN'T apply to them, all of these people will lose their citizenship, causing them great and possibly irreparable damage.
I'm Thinking that court is likely going to decide that #1 is correct, (It is not.) and that regarding the 14th amendment, they don't care what it really means, they are NOT going to disrupt that many lives. They are going to "Stare Decisis" it just the way they did Roe v Wade some years ago.
I repeat, the court is not going to give a rat's @ss what the law ACTUALLY means, they are going to Uphold Wong Kim Ark as applying to the children of Foreigners.
If there is even a prayer of hope to get them to see this issue correctly, it will require them to rule that #1 is incorrect. Being born a citizen does not make you a "natural born citizen." If they go the other way on that question, it will not be possible to get a correct verdict out of them regarding Obama.
The 4 liberal judges are thoroughly predictable. *IF* the four conservative judges all see it the same way as you or I, (and that is not a guarantee) then the deciding factor will once again be Justice Kennedy.
As one wit said of the Gay Marriage ban in California:
Why don't we just save a lot of time and ask Justice Kennedy what he thinks?
I'm pretty sure Justice Kennedy is going to rule against us.