Judge to Berg - Case dismissed in Berg v. Obama

[PatGund]

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20081025_Judge_rejects_Montco_lawyer_s_bid_to_have_Obama_removed_from_ballot.html

Judge rejects Montco lawyer's bid to have Obama removed from ballot

"U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick had denied Berg's request for a temporary restraining order on Aug. 22 but had not ruled on the merits of the suit until yesterday.

Obama and the Democratic National Committee had asked Surrick to dismiss Berg's complaint in a court filing on Sept. 24.

They said that Berg's claims were "ridiculous" and "patently false," that Berg had "no standing" to challenge the qualifications of a candidate for president because he had not shown the requisite harm to himself.

Surrick agreed.

In a 34-page memorandum and opinion, the judge said Berg's allegations of harm were "too vague and too attenuated" to confer standing on him or any other voters.

Surrick ruled that Berg's attempts to use certain laws to gain standing to pursue his claim that Obama was not a natural-born citizen were "frivolous and not worthy of discussion."

The judge also said the harm Berg alleged did "not constitute an injury in fact" and Berg's arguments to the contrary "ventured into the unreasonable."

[kestrel91316]

1. I'd prefer to have a judge rule on the actual merits of the case to shut these

f---ers up once and for all.

[quakerboy]

10. you know that wouldn't happen

The judge could come out, say he'd seen the BC, Talked to the state officials, and met the delivery Dr, and these idjits would just prance around FR and the freeper auxiliaries saying that he had been bought off. These people are nuts and full of hate, and no rational argument nor empirical evidence will ease their demented thrashings.

[PatGund]

29. Yep!

They're already claiming the judge in the Berg case was bought off or threatened. *rolls eyes*

[polichick]

2. Where did the story about a fake birth certificate originate...

...so many wing-nuts cling to it.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

6. A birth certificate from Hawaii wouldn't have even been necessary. He could have been

born on the moon as long as his mother was a US citizen. That makes him a natural born citizen according to US Code 8.

[polichick]

7. But where did the idea that Barack wasn't a citizen ever come from?

[PatGund]

8. Initially....

The initial claims about citizenship were brought up on the "TexasDarlin" site by someone calling themselves "Judah Benjamin", (after the Secretary of State and War for the CSA - no I'm NOT kidding). Berg cut and pasted them into his suit.

Also Andy Martin made some claims along those lines as well.

[polichick]

9. Oh good grief! Thanks.

[PatGund]

11. Not a problem...

I've been blogging about this since June at Yes To Democracy. It's kinda amazing how it developed. like watching mold grow on a loaf of bread.

[kestrel91316]

15. Having studied mycology while getting my BS in microbiology,

I have to say that your remark is HIGHLY INSULTING TO MOLD.

[PatGund]

18. *laugh!* I stand corrected.....

:-)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

17. I really haven't a clue? These creeps are just grasping! It's in the US Code 8

which was created to define Natural Born Citizen as the Constitution didn't really define it in a way that we in modern times could understand. It was based on early British Common Law which defines it. Our code actually goes into greater detail which might not even be Constitutional as the British Common Law is much more succint without all of the restrictions. I have posted a reference to British Common Law After Code 8.

The part of the Code that I placed into Bold would be attributed to him if he wasn't born in the US, which he was of course.

Here goes -

§ 1401. Nationals and citizens of United States at birth

The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:

(a) a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof;
(b) a person born in the United States to a member of an Indian, Eskimo, Aleutian, or other aboriginal tribe: Provided, That the granting of citizenship under this subsection shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of such person to tribal or other property;
(c) a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents both of whom are citizens of the United States and one of whom has had a residence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions, prior to the birth of such person;
(d) a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States who has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year prior to the birth of such person, and the other of whom is a national, but not a citizen of the United States;
(e) a person born in an outlying possession of the United States of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States who has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year at any time prior to the birth of such person;
(f) a person of unknown parentage found in the United States while under the age of five years, until shown, prior to his attaining the age of twenty-one years, not to have been born in the United States;
(g) a person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than five years, at least two of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years: Provided, That any periods of honorable service in the Armed Forces of the United States, or periods of employment with the United States Government or with an international organization as that term is defined in section 288 of title 22 by such citizen parent, or any periods during which such citizen parent is physically present abroad as the dependent unmarried son or daughter and a member of the household of a person
(A) honorably serving with the Armed Forces of the United States, or
(B) employed by the United States Government or an international organization as defined in section 288 of title 22, may be included in order to satisfy the physical-presence requirement of this paragraph. This proviso shall be applicable to persons born on or after December 24, 1952, to the same extent as if it had become effective in its present form on that date; and
(h) a person born before noon (Eastern Standard Time) May 24, 1934, outside the limits and jurisdiction of the United States of an alien father and a mother who is a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, had resided in the United States.

British Common Law

http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/jyinger/Citizenship/history.htm

The term "natural born" citizen has a long history in British common law.(38) In fact, a law passed in 1677 law says that "natural born" citizens include people born overseas to British citizens. This usage was undoubtedly known to John Jay, who had children born overseas while he was serving as a diplomat.(39) It also appears to have been employed by the members of the first Congress, who included many of the people who had participated in the Constitutional Convention. To be specific, The Naturalization Act of 1790, which was passed by this Congress, declared "And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond the sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens; Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident of the United States."(40)

I am sure that the last sentence is moot now. :)

[PatGund]

19. Oh, I know that and YOU know what....

Berg tried to argue that wasn't the version of the law at the time Sen. Obama was born, and in any case, it doesn't apply BECAUSE When Stanley Ann Durham married Lolo Soetoro, (and Lolo Soetoro supposed "adoption" of Sen. Obama as a child), that both Ms. Durham and Barack Obama lost their US citizenship and took Indonesian citizenship.

Berg tried to do a "gotcha" in his demands asking for copies of Obama's oath of citizenship and naturalization certificate. Something a native-born US citizen would never have. That way he could continue to argue, (as he did a couple days ago on the Michael "Savage" Weiner show) that Obama was an illegal alien. And of course, if he HAD that documentation, then it proved he was a naturalized citizen and therefore couldn't be president.

The entire suit was a cut and paste job from several right wing and PUMA sites, mostly that of "TexasDarlin" Which Berg coyly commented on when he said a "Texas Gal" gave him the info

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

21. In cases like this with Berg, who Used to have a good reputation, it makes you

wonder either who paid him how much, or what ugly deeds are they blackmailing him for.

Thank you BTW for letting me know exactly what insane argument/s they were using.

[PatGund]

26. It could be as simple as disgruntlement....

Berg was a Clinton supporter during the primaries. In March he posted an open letter demanding Sen. Obama step out of the race because of his association with Rev. Wright. In June he posted an on-line petition calling for the superdelegates to overturn the voters will and, quote: "The Democrats can only win in November 2008 with Hillary Clinton, a dynamic leader who has been totally vetted; who won the majority of popular vote and won the big states. " In early august he signed an on-line petition that the so-called "conservative libertarian" Mitchell Langbert did, saying in that "signature #5450, "Obama must be "vetted" before the DNC in Denver. Obama is not qualified to be President and therefore, the DNC should nominate HILLARY CLINTON"

And then on 21 August he filed his lawsuit, which included a request for a Temporary Restraining Order to keep the DNC from nominating Sen. Obama. This was only a few days from the convention.

His lawsuit was a cut and paste job from a lot of the claims found on various PUMA and Just Say No Deal boards. After the convention he started courting a lot of right-wingers, who I suspect were using him to promote the "Democrats eating their own" meme.

So it could be as simple as Berg harbouring a grudge because his candidate didn't win, and was unable to move past that.

http://www.yestodemocracy.com/yes_to_democracy_no_to_pu/2008/08/wingnuts-away-.html

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

28. Ding, ding, ding

You win Final Jeopardy!

[gauguin57]

3. Well, as the comments at the end of the story indicate, this still won't shut the wingers up.

Can someone not point out to these doofuses that the burden of proof is on the LIARS and FABRICATORS who made all this stuff up? I could make up something horrible about John McCain -- that he steals kids' lunch money, or something -- and McCain has no obligation to offer proof that my wild fabrication isn't true. It's up to me to offer proof that McCain is stealing lunch money. It's my accusation; it's my burden of proof. If I can't offer proof about the lunch money, then case closed.

Obama's got a campaign to run, a family to stay connected with, and a dying grandmother. He doesn't have time (or obligation) to answer every accusation by every racist, ignorant wingnut who makes up some ridiculous crap!

[morillon]

22. I don't think anything would shut them up.

Obama could fly a dozen of them to Hawaii and have the governor of the state escort them personally to the vault to look at the original copy, and there would still be some who'd say it was a fake, that his grandparents had bribed the doctor, or whatever. And those who weren't invited on the trip to the vault would swear up and down that the others had been bought off.

It never ends.

The fact of the matter is that whatever the Hawaii government has on file is good enough to issue a birth certificate. If it was good enough for them in 1961, then that's what we have to go by. Unless someone can prove that Stanley Ann Dunham was NOT physically on U.S. soil on August 4, 1961 -- and I'm talking State Department records here, not some "eye witness" after the fact stuff -- then she was in Hawaii.

[ObamanationYes1]

4. This Berg guy is supposedly a "Life Long Democrat"

Too bad we can't expel him from the party

[PatGund]

5. He was a strong Clinton supporter....

...and was making calls for Obama to drop out "for the good of the party" as far back as March.

He's also a 9/11 "truther" who's been dinged in the courts on ethics violations before.

[BuyingThyme]

23. He is/was a DUer, too.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

32. Really? What's his DU name? (assuming can/want to say)

[DevonRex]

12. Uh oh. Heads are gonna asplod over at...

CHF. Wonder what they'll come up with for their next :tinfoilhat: theory.

Oh, wait. What am I saying? They'll just say that the judge was threatened or something. No need for a new theory at all.

:rofl:

[PatGund]

20. Already are doing just that....

Example from "TexasDarlin":

"Interesting. First obama makes a suspicious one day trip to Hawaii, then this alleged unbiased judge dismisses the lawsuit. Intimidation or a payoff?"

[DevonRex]

25. Oh. My. God. Somebody needs to call the men in white suits

to come and take them away. Haha, heehee, hoho.

[Starry Messenger]

36. Au contraire!!

Check this out:

http://capitolhillforum.com/topic/780840/1/

[PatGund]

39. That sounds like PUMAs and their right-wing allies.....

They had a lot emotionally riding on Berg's lawsuit, and very much took the "guilty before being proven guilty" attitude.

Which makes sense in a way. Berg was a Clinton supporter. The Judge was a Clinton appointee. In their eyes, they may have seen it as a slam dunk - and instead had it taken away.

They can appeal it all they want, but the court of appeals is even more picky on standing issues. As for the Supreme Court, remember that Berg sued some of the judges when he was doing the 9/11 truth thing, so that venue may not be interested in him either.

They're boasting about 9 lawsuits now filed (HI, WA, CA, GA, PA, NY, CT, VA, and OH) However, the PA lawsuit is Berg's. The HI lawsuit is anti-semite Andy Martin's, and he lost a bid to have it done by telephone, and the hearing is November 7th. The rest are clones of the Berg suit aimed at the Secretary of State for those states, and it's likely they'll get dismissed as well.

[WeDidIt]

42. Have you ever noticed there are about 28 PUMAs total

and about eighty-three PUMA sites?

The other 150 or so posters on those sites are rightwingnuts.

[PatGund]

43. *nods*

Yeah, since I started blogging about the "Cult of the COLB", I've noticed the same names and posts keep coming up over and over and over and over and over again. And many of them seem to be posting more and more on the right wing nutcase sites as well. Which seems to be their moral and spiritual home anymore, since they've all thrown Sen. Clinton under the bus

[WeDidIt]

44. Sadly, so many of those names

have a granite cookie here on DU.

It's like some people went absolutely insane after Obama won the primaries and decided they were really for everything they had always stood against prior to these primaries.

At least one of them seems to be coming home a bit, but he had to be thrown off the PUMA sites for standing his grouond as being opposed to the REpublican agenda.

[PatGund]

45. Yeah no kidding......

"TexasDarlin" comes to mind. Her entire blog of late is nothing but the slander du jour, mixed with how desperately people need to vote for McCain/Palin to save the United States from this threat.

I remember her here when she used to be sane. Now she's 180 degrees not just from here, but 180 degrees from everything and anything Sen. Clinton has ever stood for. She posts at Free Republic, Atlas Shrugs, (who mocks her for being a "Clintonista", since they hate the Clintons as much as they do Obama), America's First, and other right-wing blogs. Her comments are gobs of messages from people decrying Obama as "Muslim", "Communist", "Socialist", "Un-American", "Terrorist", and other right wing talking points.

Look at blogs by "Riverdaughter" and former DU'ers. It's the same story. They decry sexism, and then say the most sexist things about Michelle Obama they can think of. They decry racism, yet another PUMA, Anglachel had to distance herself from it (and has been called an "Obot", or "troll" as a result.) Any pretense or former support for Sen. Clinton is long since gone, it's about "punishing the Democrats" by electing Palin/McCain (yes, they use that order), and setting the stage for a Clinton - Palin matchup in 2012 after they "reclaim" the Democratic party from traitors like Pelosi, Dean, and others.

[WeDidIt]

46. Yeah, but I was shocked by one of the worst

Perry Logan no longer has any PUMA links on his site and has been coming down hard on the Republican crap.

[PatGund]

47. WOW!!!

Did he finally have two brain cells fire together??

Sorry, he's in SERIOUS need of some medication.

[WeDidIt]

48. Oh no doubt about it at all

I think he was offended at being pushed off No Quarter and is basically pissed at PUMAs and at Obama supporters.

And yes, he needs some serious help.

[PatGund]

49. *chuckle*

Add his hatred of the GOP, and he's pissed at pretty much everyone then??

[SoxFan]

13. Sanction his ass!

Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct

Rule 3.1 Meritorious Claims and Contentions
A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there
is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law. A lawyer for the defendant in a criminal proceeding, or the respondent in a proceeding that could result in incarceration, may nevertheless so defend the proceeding as to require that every element of the case be established.

[PatGund]

24. *snork*

Wouldn't be the only one. Wingbat Ed Hale has a complaint againist Berg over scooping him on the "API" Michelle tapes....

[Starry Messenger]

14. Venturing into the Unreasonable should be the motto for the whole Republican Party.

I guess that's as close as you can get to calling someone nuttier than a fruitbat in legalese.

[TheKentuckian]

16. Our friends from the far reaches of the other side of the aisle

will believe nothing because they started out grasping for straws and running away from the issues facing the country. They know they have no political case that sane folks will buy so it has always been various forms of desperate stunts founded on the most tenuous logic.

Two things need to be prioritized and they won't cost a lot to implement. One, is that each and every person must graduate high school, no one can drop out until they themselves reach the age of consent, and demonstrate some command of that 12-13 years of knowledge. Two, Civics MUST be a required and ongoing part of that curriculum.

Most of the most furious attacks are entirely dependent on lack of knowledge of many in the general population. We've got to stop the bleeding of knowledge in our country. We can't allow 19th century logic to dictate our 21st century education system. There is no job or help to the almost nonexistent "family farms" that a 16 year old that is going to benefit that young person more than at the very least completing their educational foundation.

Its past time to arm our future electorate with a basic understanding of how our system is supposed to work and to commit to producing young people that are prepared to take on the world, because they will have to.

[SmokingJacket]

27. I get that Wingnuts are like this, but PUMAs?

It's hard to wrap my mind around this. He's either mad or being paid or both.

[PatGund]

41. Most of Berg's lawsuit....

Was cut and pasted from PUMA boards, especially "TexasDarlin". Also people at "No Quarter". His discredited "forensic computer specialists" (TechDude and Polarik), are from neocon and righty blogs like TownHall, Atlas Shrugs, and Free Republic - but they're welcome at "TexasDarlin" and other PUMA litterboxes.

Berg himself has been calling for Obama to step out of the race so Clinton could take the nomination since March.

[Scooter24]

30. He's already appealing to the US Supreme Court

I believe it's Kennedy who will receive this case. It should be interesting to see how many people vote to hear the case. I however predict they will toss it since there is no conflicting case in the matter.

[WeDidIt]

31. Nope, This is from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals

So Souter gets it.

[Scooter24]

33. Thanks...

I couldn't remember who exactly had Penn's jurisdiction.

[WeDidIt]

35. The Handy Dandy list

For the D.C. Circuit, John G. Roberts, Jr.
For the First Circuit, David H. Souter
For the Second Circuit, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
For the Third Circuit, David H. Souter
For the Fourth Circuit, John G. Roberts, Jr.
For the Fifth Circuit, Antonin G. Scalia
For the Sixth Circuit, John Paul Stevens
For the Seventh Circuit, John Paul Stevens
For the Eighth Circuit, Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
For the Ninth Circuit, Anthony M. Kennedy
For the Tenth Circuit, Stephen G. Breyer
For the Eleventh Circuit, Clarence Thomas
For the Federal Circuit, John G. Roberts, Jr.

[Scooter24]

34. .

[4lbs]

37. Here's what the Judge said to Berg in simpler terms:

"Hey Berg, piss off! I gotta go vote in a week for the smart black guy so he can help recover the money I lost in my 401K !"


;)

[WeDidIt]

38. PUMAs and Freepers Now Pushing that Surrick had a "Conflict of Interests"

Follow this circular logic.

Barack Obama did his summer internship at Sidley Austin where he met Michelle Obama, who was an associate.

Christopher B Seaman works at Sidley Austin.

Christopher B. Seaman once clerked for Judge R. Barclay Surrick when he was a district court judge.

And they claim this is a "conflict of interets".

If this is the standard, then no case anywhere in the nation can be brought before any judge as there will alwyas be this type of "conflict of interest".

[PatGund]

40. Yep!

And they're claiming that Seaman wrote the dismissal and faxed it to Surrick, and Surrick just signed off on it (or was forced to sign off on it, they're also claiming Surrick was going to come down in favour of Berg, but was pressured/threatened/bought off instead)