Lawsuits targeting Obama likely to be denied again

Several persistent plaintiffs who are Undaunted by election results on Nov. 4 have pursued lawsuits asserting that Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he is not a natural born citizen. Their claims were rejected in lower courts.

Even though their claims were rejected in lower courts, they have filed motions and appeals at the U.S. Supreme Court. One of the plantiffs Philip Berg, a lawyer in Lafayette Hill, Pa., lawsuit asserts that Obama was born in Kenya even though he has a birth certificate from the state of Hawaii showing he was born there on August 4, 1961. Leo C. Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., lawsuit asserts that neither McCain nor Obama are natural born citizens. Donofrio said that even if there was proof that Obama was born in Hawaii, he is still not a natural born citizen because Obama's father was born in Kenya. Under U.S. law people born in the U.S. are indeed natural-born citizens. Obama is being sued by Berg and New Jersey's secretary of state is being sued by Donofrio. Initially the suits sought a court order to remove Obama's name from the ballot and since early November, they have lodged appeals and motions saying courts should intervene to block Obama from becoming president. So far the suits have not had any luck because they have lost at every stage. Berg's suit was rejected by a federal judge in Philadelphia who said that Berg had no standing to sue and to bring a lawsuit he would have to show he has suffered a personal injury of some kind. A general compliant will not do. If the suits had gained traction earlier in the year than it may have been possible that a judge would have ordered a hearing to review the evidence on whether Obama or McCain are natural born citizens as required by the Constitution. The suits now have very little chance of gaining a hearing now. The Supreme Court decides legal issues and it does not resolve factual disputes.