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(s)Elections
See other (s)Elections Articles

Title: Obama's Eligibility in Question
Source: Chicago Tribune newspaper ad
URL Source: http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.or ... oTribune-ObamaLtr-Nov-2008.pdf
Published: Dec 3, 2008
Author: Robert L. Schulz
Post Date: 2008-12-03 14:34:40 by Phant2000
Keywords: None
Views: 1158
Comments: 35

Maybe if all those NOT voting for Mr. Obama had signed the subject letter, he might not have ignored it.

http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/UPDATE/misc2008/ChicagoTribune-ObamaLtr-Nov-2008.pdf

Click for Full Text!

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


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#1. To: Phant2000 (#0)

Title: SPACE RESERVED FOR NEWS ON COURT ORDER (BERG Vs. OBAMA)

TwentyTwelve  posted on  2008-12-03   14:46:51 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Phant2000 (#0)

Documents nonsense aside, was Obama's mother also not American born? I think not. Then no matter where he was born, is he not just as American as John McCain who was born in Panama?

Thanks for the link to "We the Bigots Foundation".

Not unexpectedly I found no reference at this site to any individual connected to the "organization". Not the first time I've encountered this with such sites! How puzzling!

These types seem inclined to wear a hood! No?

Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot

iconoclast  posted on  2008-12-03   15:05:52 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: iconoclast (#2)

McStain was born on a U.S. military installation with full U.S. citizenship. Obummer was born in Kenya. Big difference.

“The best and first guarantor of our neutrality and our independent existence is the defensive will of the people…and the proverbial marksmanship of the Swiss shooter. Each soldier a good marksman! Each shot a hit!”
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941

X-15  posted on  2008-12-03   15:28:26 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: X-15, iconoclast, all (#3)

ICONoCLAST: Obama is as American as McCain

X-15: McStain was born on a U.S. military installation with full U.S. citizenship. Obummer was born in Kenya. Big difference.

What's this??? Facts??? Liberal obamessiah liars and shills don't need no steenkin' facts. They merely feign ignorance while they spew for public (sheople) consumption and hope the masses believe it. Reminds me of the media. Do you work for the media Iconoclast??

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition


"Corporation: An entity created for the legal protection of its human parasites, whose sole purpose is profit and self-perpetuation." ~~ IndieTx

RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP

IndieTX  posted on  2008-12-03   15:59:36 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: IndieTX (#4)

I know, it's a shock, but there it is. Sometimes the truth stands out like a turd in a punchbowl ;-)

“The best and first guarantor of our neutrality and our independent existence is the defensive will of the people…and the proverbial marksmanship of the Swiss shooter. Each soldier a good marksman! Each shot a hit!”
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941

X-15  posted on  2008-12-03   16:22:27 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: iconoclast (#2)

DEPORT OBAMALAMADINGDONG !!

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams

Rotara  posted on  2008-12-03   16:37:54 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: X-15 (#3)

McStain was born on a U.S. military installation with full U.S. citizenship.

Source please.

Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot

iconoclast  posted on  2008-12-03   16:47:33 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: IndieTX (#4)

What's this??? Facts???

Facts?

Some people fact check before they shoot their mouths off.

Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot

iconoclast  posted on  2008-12-03   17:15:01 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#9. To: iconoclast (#8) (Edited)

Source please.

I'm glad you asked. Here is one of the left's favorite sources, MSNBC.

Lawyers: McCain birth doesn’t disqualify him

From the article: “Based on the original meaning of the Constitution, the Framers’ intentions, and subsequent legal and historical precedent, Senator McCain’s birth to parents who were U.S. citizens, serving on a U.S. military base in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936, makes him a ’natural born citizen’ within the meaning of the Constitution,” the review found.

Not even close to obamessiah.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition


"Corporation: An entity created for the legal protection of its human parasites, whose sole purpose is profit and self-perpetuation." ~~ IndieTx

RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP

IndieTX  posted on  2008-12-03   17:19:51 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#10. To: X-15 (#3)

McStain was born on a U.S. military installation with full U.S. citizenship.

NO actually he wasn't. He was born in a Panama hospital a year before the passes a law giving them citizenship. I don't believe he is qualified either but at least he vetted his before he ran.


Meet the new boss, same as the old boss — The Who

farmfriend  posted on  2008-12-03   17:21:21 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#11. To: farmfriend (#10)

The law contains one other section of historical note, concerning the Panama Canal Zone and the nation of Panama. In 8 U.S.C. § 1403, the law states that anyone born in the Canal Zone or in Panama itself, on or after February 26, 1904, to a mother and/or father who is a United States citizen, was "declared" to be a United States citizen. Note that the terms "natural-born" or "citizen at birth" are missing from this section.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_nationality_law#Citizenship_at_birth_ on_the_U.S._territories_and_former_U.S._territories

It's wiki, so it could be wrong.

“The best and first guarantor of our neutrality and our independent existence is the defensive will of the people…and the proverbial marksmanship of the Swiss shooter. Each soldier a good marksman! Each shot a hit!”
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941

X-15  posted on  2008-12-03   17:35:57 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#12. To: iconoclast (#2)

Documents nonsense aside, was Obama's mother also not American born? I think not. Then no matter where he was born, is he not just as American as John McCain who was born in Panama?

No Obama wouldn't be as much as an American citizen as McCain. Although Obamas mother was a citizen his father wasn't. The kid naturally assumes the fathers name so naturally he would be Kenyan. Especially if he was conceived outside the Us. Here watch the video this should get you up to speed.

Old Friend  posted on  2008-12-03   17:57:22 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#13. To: iconoclast, TwentyTwelve, X-15, IndieTX, farmfriend (#2)

Documents nonsense aside, was Obama's mother also not American born? I think not. Then no matter where he was born, is he not just as American as John McCain who was born in Panama?

No, it is not that simple.

If McCain was born off-base in Colon, Republic of Panama of two U.S. citizen parents, he was a natural born citizen.

If McCain was born on base, the complicated laws in effect in 1936 (changed in 1937) would appear to indicate he did not become a citizen until 1937. While the laws subsequent to 1936 would retrooactively make McCain a citizen, it could not make him a citizen at birth, i.e., a natural born citizen.

If Obama was born in the U.S., he would be a natural born citizen pursuant to the Fourteenth amandment.

If Obama was born in Kenya to a U.S. citizen mother and a Kenyan father, then there were certain residency requirements his mother had to meet which apparently were not met resulting in his not being born a citizen.

Current law at 8 U.S.C. § 1401(g) provides:

(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;

An amendment provided:

1986--Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 99-653 substituted "five years, at least two'' for "ten years, at least five''.

Had Obama been born in Kenya, the law required his citizen mother "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 ten years, at least five of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years...."

Regarding McCain, the Act of May 24, 1934 granted citizenship to "[a]ny child hereafter born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, whose father or mother or both at the time of the birth of such child is a citizen of the United States...."

Assuming birth on base in the Canal Zone, McCain was in a legal no-man's land. He was not born within the territory of the U.S. so the Fourteenth Amendment did not apply. He was not born out of the limits of the jurisdiction of the United States, so the Act of May 24, 1934 did not cover him either. The loophole was closed by legislation in 1937 but that could not retroactively make him a natural born citizen. The Canal Zone was an unincorporated territory of the U.S. and not considered part of the U.S. for citizenship purposes. Overseas military bases are not part of the United States and birth on such bases does not confer citizenship. Colon, Panama was specified as not being included in the Canal Zone.

While McCain held for many years that he was born in the hospital on the military base, that hospital was built in the 1940's and did not exist when McCain was born in 1936. The birth record produced for McCain indicates he was born in Colon, in the Republic of Panama and not on base or in the Canal Zone.

If McCain was born in Colon, Republic of Panama he was born outside the territory and jurisdiction of the U.S. and was a citizen at birth pursuant to the Act of May 24, 1934.

However, this is not an official government record, purports to be from the records of the Panama Railroad Company, and is certifed by a company employee, and generally lacks official government indicia.

McCain's birth is not reflected in the Canal Zone birth registry.

As the base hospital had not yet been built, it is likely that McCain really was born off base in the Colon hospital and that he was a natural born U.S. citizen.

NATURAL BORN CITIZEN SOURCE MATERIAL

For various points of view, see:

http://www.michiganlawreview.org/firstimpressions/vol107/chin.pdf

Gabriel J. Chin, Commentary, Why Senator John McCain Cannot Be President: Eleven Months and a Hundred Yards Short of Citizenship, 107 Mich. L. Rev. First Impressions 1 (2008).

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1133663

Bonner, J. Rebekka Susan,Who May Be President? Constitutional Reinterpretation of Article II's 'Natural Born' Presidential Eligibility Clause. [2008]

http://yalelawjournal.org/images/pdfs/pryor_note.pdf

Pryor, Jill A., The Natural-Born Citizen Clause and Presidential Eligibility: An Approach for Resolving Two Hundred Years of Uncertainty, Yale Law Journal, Vol. 97 [1988]

http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/art2frag5_user.html#art2_sec1cl5

Qualifications, Congressional Research Service Annotated Constitution

nolu_chan  posted on  2008-12-04   6:47:43 ET  (4 images) Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#14. To: nolu_chan, rotara, christine (#13)

Great post.

Thanks.

I had heard about this a few months ago but it was kept very quiet by the media.

TwentyTwelve  posted on  2008-12-04   10:18:54 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#15. To: nolu_chan (#13)

(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:

I am confused by this underlined (emphasized) portion of your post.

Can you supply a scintilla of evidence indicating that (Stanley) Ann Dunham did not meet these specifications? If not, why the all the dust up?

Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot

iconoclast  posted on  2008-12-04   17:01:58 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#16. To: nolu_chan (#13)

Additionally, if there were even a breath of truth to this nonsense, can anyone suggest that the odious Clintons would not have brought this forward months ago?

Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot

iconoclast  posted on  2008-12-04   17:08:43 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#17. To: iconoclast (#16)

The Clintons could do very little, like McStain found out, without being smeared with the "RACIST!!" brush. Too much infighting amongst the Dems would have split that party, guaranteeing a sure win for McStain. Hitlery got Sec. of State and all the other Clintonistas got a piece of the Obama-pie. Funny how that worked out, huh??

Obama got black-mailed LOL!!!

“The best and first guarantor of our neutrality and our independent existence is the defensive will of the people…and the proverbial marksmanship of the Swiss shooter. Each soldier a good marksman! Each shot a hit!”
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941

X-15  posted on  2008-12-04   17:21:59 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#18. To: iconoclast (#16)

St. Obama is a hypocrite of the highest degree:

"Let me also say that I remain distressed that the White House during this confirmation process, which overall went smoothly, failed to provide critical documents as part of the record that could have provided us with a better basis to make our judgment with respect to the nomination. This White House continues to stymie efforts on the part of the Senate to do its job. I hope with the next nominee who comes up for the Supreme Court that the White House recognizes that in fact it is its duty not just to the Senate but to the American people to make sure we can thoroughly and adequately evaluate the record of every single nominee who comes before us."

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama on the Confirmation of Judge John Roberts

Eff the Bankers

bluegrass  posted on  2008-12-04   17:28:37 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#19. To: X-15, bluegrass, Cynicom, Turtle, scrapper2, Zoroaster, all seriously concerned folks (#17)

The Clintons could do very little, like McStain found out, without being smeared with the "RACIST!!"

This is the bottom line right here.

Nobody can say anything without being played with the racist card.

Which is gonna come in real handy when Obingo takes everything we worked for and kills us..cause if we say something we're just bigots and racists and stuff..

Lady X  posted on  2008-12-04   17:32:01 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#20. To: iconoclast (#15)

[nc] 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:

I am confused by this underlined (emphasized) portion of your post.

Can you supply a scintilla of evidence indicating that (Stanley) Ann Dunham did not meet these specifications? If not, why the all the dust up?

I do not have any personal belief that Obama was born in Kenya and I was only addressing the applicable law as it would apply if he had been born in Kenya.

An amendment provided:

1986--Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 99-653 substituted "five years, at least two'' for "ten years, at least five''.

Before the 1986 amendment, had Obama been born in Kenya, the legal requirement on a citizen mother was "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 ten years, at least five of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years...."

While I have seen no evidence that she gave birth in Kenya, if she were in Kenya giving birth at age 18, she presumably was not physically present in the United States for 5 years after attaining the age of fourteen years when she gave birth to her son. The (unsupported) supposition places her outside the United States, and five years will not mathematically fit between 14 and 18. Sometimes the law is an ass, but as I read that statute the citizen mother being physically present for 5 years would have to be at least 19.

The COLB indicates Obama was born in Honolulu. While some folks have pointed out that someone born overseas can later register the foreign birth with the state of Hawaii, that does not mean the registration will convert his place of birth to Honolulu.

As a legal issue, there just is not much of one. No individual has standing for such a suit in federal court so nobody gets heard on the questionable merits.

The legal arguments, such as they are, are frivolous and the district court judge said exactly that. The factual arguments are generally not much more than referencing internet rumor.

The purported "expert" document examiners have largely been demolished by Dr. Neal Krawitz.

I believe this is a big waste of time but Obama does not mind. If his detractors are busy with this nonsense they are not focused on anything that might matter. It is not impossible that this was generated from the left with the idea being to let the opposition waste as much time as possible and discredit itself in the process.

Illegal immigration might have been a topic worthy of campaign discussion but we had 6 hours of major party debate without a mention of it. The debates were almost as substantive as a Seinfeld show about nothing.

nolu_chan  posted on  2008-12-04   23:22:39 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#21. To: iconoclast (#16)

Additionally, if there were even a breath of truth to this nonsense...

Well, it's true nonsense. I have yet to see any credible evidence put forth.

nolu_chan  posted on  2008-12-04   23:25:43 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#22. To: nolu_chan (#20)

hehehehehe

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams

Rotara  posted on  2008-12-04   23:26:07 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#23. To: nolu_chan (#21)

I have yet to see any credible evidence put forth.

You are a blind de constructionist.

Probably an at-torn-ey wannabe that failed the bar a few times.

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams

Rotara  posted on  2008-12-04   23:26:58 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#24. To: Rotara (#23)

You are a blind de constructionist.

If you think the court will rule in favor of Berg or Donofrio you must be a blind optimist.

How do you propose either overcomes the obstacle of the constitutional requirement for standing in a case or controversy?

Black's Law Dictionary, 6th Edition

Standing to sue doctrine.

"Standing to sue" means that party has sufficient stake in an otherwise justicia­ble controversy to obtain judicial resolution of that con­troversy. Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 92 S.Ct. 1361, 1364, 31 L.Ed.2d 636.

Standing is a concept uti­lized to determine if a party is sufficiently affected so as to insure that a justiciable controversy is presented to the court; it is the right to take the initial step that frames legal issues for ultimate adjudication by court or jury. State ex rel. Cartwright v. Oklahoma Tax Com'n, Okl., 653 P.2d 1230, 1232.

The requirement of "stand­ing" is satisfied if it can be said that the plaintiff has a legally protectible and tangible interest at stake in the litigation. Guidry v. Roberts, La.App., 331 So.2d 44, 50.

Standing is a jurisdictional issue which concerns power of federal courts to hear and decide cases and does not concern ultimate merits of substantive claims involved in the action. Weiner v. Bank of King of Prussia, D.C.Pa., 358 F.Supp. 684, 695.

The doctrine emanates from the case or controversy requirement of the Consti­tution and from general principles of judicial adminis­tration, and seeks to insure that the plaintiff has alleged such a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy as to assure concrete adverseness. Campaign Clean Water, Inc. v. Ruckelshaus, D.C.Va., 361 F.Supp. 689, 692.

Standing is a requirement that the plaintiffs have been injured or been threatened with injury by govern­mental action complained of, and focuses on the ques­tion of whether the litigant is the proper party to fight the lawsuit, not whether the issue itself is justiciable. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc. v. U. S. Atomic Energy Comm., D.C.N.C, 431 F.Supp. 203, 218.

Essence of standing is that no person is entitled to assail the constitutionality of an ordinance or statute except as he himself is adversely affected by it. Sandoval v. Ryan, Colo.App., 535 P.2nd 244, 247.

CITIZEN STANDING

http://supreme.justia.com/us/418/208/case.html

U.S. Supreme Court
Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee, 418 U.S. 208 (1974)

Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War

No. 72-1188

Argued January 14, 1974

Decided June 25, 1974

418 U.S. 208

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

Syllabus

Respondents -- an association of present and former members of the Armed Forces Reserve opposing United States involvement in Vietnam, and five association members who were United States citizens and taxpayers -- brought a class action on behalf, inter alia, of all United States citizens and taxpayers against petitioners, the Secretary of Defense and the three Service Secretaries, challenging the Reserve membership of Members of Congress as violating the Incompatibility Clause of Art. I, § 6, cl. 2, of the Constitution, which provides that "no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office." The District Court held that respondents had standing to sue as citizens but not as taxpayers, and, on the merits, granted partial relief. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

Held:

1. Respondents had no standing to sue as citizens, since the claimed nonobservance of the Incompatibility Clause which they assert deprives citizens of the faithful discharge of the legislative duties of reservist Members of Congress implicates only the generalized interest of all citizens in constitutional governance, and is thus merely an abstract injury, rather than the concrete injury that is essential to satisfy Art. III's "case or controversy" requirement. Pp. 418 U. S. 216-227.

2. Respondents also lacked standing to sue as taxpayers, since they failed to establish the required "logical nexus between the [taxpayer] status asserted and the claim sought to be adjudicated." Flast v. Cohen, 392 U. S. 83, 392 U. S. 102. Pp. 418 U. S. 227-228.

162 U.S.App.D.C. 19, 495 F.2d 1075, reversed and remanded.

BURGER, C.J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which STEWART, WHITE, BLACKMUN, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. STEWART, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 418 U. S. 228. DOUGLAS, J.,

Page 418 U. S. 209

filed a dissenting opinion, in which MARSHALL, J., joined, post, p. 418 U. S. 229. BRENNAN, J., post, p. 418 U. S. 235, and MARSHALL, J., post, p. 418 U. S. 238, filed dissenting opinions.

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE BURGER delivered the opinion of the Court.

[...] Respondents' motivation has indeed brought them sharply into conflict with petitioners, but, as the Court has noted, motivation is not a substitute for the actual injury needed by the courts and adversaries to focus litigation efforts and judicial decisionmaking. Moreover, the evaluation of the quality of the presentation on the merits was a retrospective judgment that could have properly been arrived at only after standing had been found so as to permit the court to consider the merits. A logical corollary to this approach would be the manifestly untenable view that the inadequacy of the presentation on the merits would be an appropriate basis for denying standing.

Furthermore, to have reached the conclusion that respondents' interests as citizens were meant to be protected by the Incompatibility Clause because the primary purpose of the Clause was to insure independence of each of the branches of the Federal Government similarly involved an appraisal of the merits before the issue of standing was resolved. All citizens, of course, share equally an interest in the independence of each branch of Government. In some fashion, every provision of the Constitution

Page 418 U. S. 227

was meant to serve the interests of all. Such a generalized interest, however, is too abstract to constitute a "case or controversy" appropriate for judicial resolution. [Footnote 16] The proposition that all constitutional provisions are enforceable by any citizen simply because citizens are the ultimate beneficiaries of those provisions has no boundaries.

Closely linked to the idea that generalized citizen interest is a sufficient basis for standing was the District Court's observation that it was not irrelevant that, if respondents could not obtain judicial review of petitioners' action, "then, as a practical matter, no one can." Our system of government leaves many crucial decisions to the political processes. The assumption that, if respondents have no standing to sue, no one would have standing is not a reason to find standing. See United States v. Richardson, ante at 418 U. S. 179.

- - - - -

http://supreme.justia.com/us/418/166/case.html, 418 U.S. 166 (1974)

U.S. Supreme Court
United States v. Richardson, 418 U.S. 166 (1974)

United States v. Richardson

No. 72-885

Argued October 10, 1973

Decided June 25, 1974

418 U.S. 166

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

Syllabus

Respondent, as a federal taxpayer, brought this suit for the purpose of obtaining a declaration of unconstitutionality of the Central Intelligence Agency Act, which permits the CIA to account for its expenditures "solely on the certificate of the Director. . . ." 50 U.S.C. § 403j(b). The complaint alleged that the Act violated Art. I, § 9, cl. 7, of the Constitution insofar as that clause requires a regular statement and account of public funds. The District Court's dismissal of the complaint for, inter alia, respondent's lack of standing under Flast v. Cohen, 392 U. S. 83, was reversed by the Court of Appeals. That court held that respondent had standing as a taxpayer on the ground that he satisfied Flast's requirements that the allegations (1) challenge an enactment under the Taxing and Spending Clause of Art I, § 8, and show (2) a "nexus" between the plaintiff's status and a specific constitutional limitation on the taxing and spending power.

Held: Respondent lacks standing to maintain this suit. Pp. 418 U. S. 171-180.

(a) Flast, which stressed the need for meeting the requirements of Art. III, did not

"undermine the salutary principle . . . established by Frothingham [v. Mellon, 262 U. S. 447] . . . that a taxpayer may not 'employ a federal court as a forum in which to air his generalized grievances about the conduct of government or the allocation of power in the Federal System.'"

Pp. 418 U. S. 171-174.

(b) Respondent's challenge, not being addressed to the taxing or spending power, but to the statutes regulating the CIA's accounting and reporting procedures, provides no "logical nexus" between his status as "taxpayer" and the asserted failure of Congress to require more detailed reports of expenditures of the CIA. Pp. 418 U. S. 174-175.

(c) Respondent's claim that, without detailed information on the CIA's expenditures, he cannot properly follow legislative or executive action, and thereby fulfill his obligations as a voter, is a generalized grievance insufficient under Frothingham or Flast to show that "he has sustained or is immediately in danger of

Page 418 U. S. 167

sustaining direct injury as the result" of such action. Ex parte Levitt, 302 U.S. 633, 634. Pp. 418 U. S. 176-178.

465 F.2d 844, reversed.

BURGER, C.J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which WHITE, BLACKMUN, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. POWELL, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 418 U. S. 180. DOUGLAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 418 U. S. 197. BRENNAN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 418 U. S. 235. STEWART, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which MARSHALL, J., joined, post, p. 418 U. S. 202.

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE BURGER delivered the opinion of the Court.

[...]

Page 418 U. S. 179

It can be argued that, if respondent is not permitted to litigate this issue, no one can do so. In a very real sense, the absence of any particular individual or class to litigate these claims gives support to the argument that the subject matter is committed to the surveillance of Congress, and ultimately to the political process. Any other conclusion would mean that the Founding Fathers intended to set up something in the nature of an Athenian democracy or a New England town meeting to oversee the conduct of the National Government by means of lawsuits in federal courts. The Constitution created a representative Government, with the representatives directly responsible to their constituents at stated periods of two, four, and six years; that the Constitution does not afford a judicial remedy does not, of course, completely disable the citizen who is not satisfied with the "ground rules" established by the Congress for reporting expenditures of the Executive Branch. Lack of standing within the narrow confines of Art. III jurisdiction does not impair the right to assert his views in the political forum or at the polls. Slow, cumbersome, and unresponsive though the traditional electoral process may be thought at times, our system provides for changing members of the political branches when dissatisfied citizens convince a sufficient number of their fellow electors that elected representatives are delinquent in performing duties committed to them.

As our society has become more complex, our numbers more vast, our lives more varied, and our resources more strained, citizens increasingly request the intervention of the courts on a greater variety of issues than at any period of our national development. The acceptance of new categories of judicially cognizable injury has not eliminated the basic principle that, to invoke judicial power, the claimant must have a "personal stake in the outcome,"

[...]

- - - - -

http://supreme.justia.com/us/454/464/case.html, 454 U.S. 464 (1982)

U.S. Supreme Court
Valley Forge Coll. v. Americans United, 454 U.S. 464 (1982)

Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc.

No. 80-327

Argued November 4, 1981

Decided January 12, 1982

454 U.S. 464

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR

THE THIRD CIRCUIT

Syllabus

Pursuant to its authority under the Property Clause, Congress enacted the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to provide an economical and efficient system for the disposal of surplus Federal Government property. Under the statute, property that has outlived its usefulness to the Government is declared "surplus" and may be transferred to private or other public entities. The Act authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) (now the Secretary of Education) to assume responsibility for disposing of surplus real property for educational use, and he may sell such property to nonprofit, tax-exempt educational institutions for consideration that takes into account any benefit which has accrued or may accrue to the United States from the transferee's use of the property. Property formerly used as a military hospital was declared to be "surplus property" under the Act and was conveyed by the Department of HEW to petitioner church-related college. The appraised value of the property, $577,500, was discounted by the Secretary of HEW's computation of a 100% public benefit allowance, thus permitting petitioner to acquire the property without making any financial payment. Respondents, an organization dedicated to the separation of church and State and several of its employees, brought suit in Federal District Court, challenging the conveyance on the ground that it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and alleging that each member of respondent organization "would be deprived of the fair and constitutional use of his (her) tax dollars." The District Court dismissed the complaint on the ground that respondents lacked standing to sue as taxpayers under Flast v. Cohen, 392 U. S. 83, and failed to allege any actual injury beyond a generalized grievance common to all taxpayers. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that, although respondents lacked standing as taxpayers to challenge the conveyance, they had standing merely as "citizens," claiming "injury in fact' to their shared individuated right to a government that `shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion,'" which standing was sufficient to satisfy the "case or controversy" requirement of Art. III.

Page 454 U. S. 465

Held: Respondents do not have standing, either in their capacity as taxpayers or as citizens, to challenge the conveyance in question. Pp. 454 U. S. 471-490.

(a) The exercise of judicial power under Art. III is restricted to litigants who can show "injury in fact" resulting from the action that they seek to have the court adjudicate. Pp. 454 U. S. 471-476.

(b) Respondents are without standing to sue as taxpayers, because the source of their complaint is not a congressional action but a decision by HEW to transfer a parcel of federal property, and because the conveyance in question was not an exercise of Congress' authority conferred by the Taxing and Spending Clause, but by the Property Clause. Cf. Flast v. Cohen, supra. Pp. 454 U. S. 476-482.

(c) Nor have respondents sufficiently alleged any other basis for standing to bring suit. Although they claim that the Constitution has been violated, they claim nothing else. They fail to identify any personal injury suffered as a consequence of the alleged constitutional error, other than the psychological consequence presumably produced by observation of conduct with which one disagrees. That is not injury sufficient to confer standing under Art. III. While respondents are firmly committed to the constitutional principle of separation of church and State, standing is not measured by the intensity of the litigant's interest or the fervor of his advocacy. Pp. 454 U. S. 482-487.

(d) Enforcement of the Establishment Clause does not justify special exceptions from the standing requirements of Art. III. There is no place in our constitutional scheme for the philosophy that the business of the federal courts is correcting constitutional errors, and that "cases and controversies" are at best merely convenient vehicles for doing so, and, at worst, nuisances that may be dispensed with when they become obstacles to that transcendent endeavor. And such philosophy does not become more palatable when the underlying merits concern the Establishment Clause. Pp. 454 U. S. 488-490.

619 F.2d 252, reversed.

REHNQUIST, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and WHITE, POWELL, and O'CONNOR, JJ., joined. BRENNAN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which MARSHALL and BLACKMUN, JJ., joined, post, p. 454 U. S. 490. STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 454 U. S. 513.

Page 454 U. S. 466

JUSTICE REHNQUIST delivered the opinion of the Court.

[...]

nolu_chan  posted on  2008-12-05   2:01:47 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#25. To: nolu_chan (#24)

If you think the court will rule in favor of Berg or Donofrio you must be a blind optimist.

Far from my point.

I don't have any faith in your Kangaroo Courts.

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams

Rotara  posted on  2008-12-05   2:03:51 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#26. To: nolu_chan (#24)

You are a lawyer. You believe you have good knowledge of case law. What you do not recognize or appreciate is that lawyers like yourself demonstrate that there are far too many lawyers in this nation and too little justice.

scrapper2  posted on  2008-12-05   2:31:56 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#27. To: bluegrass (#18)

Legal arguments aside Black Obama has been chosen by the Establishment to rule America and the Supreme Court will do nothing to dethrone him.

Lee Harvey Oswald was not the lone assassin of JFK, no way, yet the US Government has maintained he was for almost fifty years. Come January Black Obama will be sworn into the highest office.

Life is a tragedy to those who feel, and a comedy to those who think.

Zoroaster  posted on  2008-12-05   3:54:23 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#28. To: Lady X (#19)

Which is gonna come in real handy when Obingo takes everything we worked for

Congratulations for having the foresight to bury your savings in the backyard.

Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot

iconoclast  posted on  2008-12-05   8:56:57 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#29. To: Rotara, nolu_chan (#25)

I don't have any faith in your Kangaroo Courts.

The Obamites are the same mindset that would have backed the Crown during the 1770's-1780's.

Eff the Bankers

bluegrass  posted on  2008-12-05   9:06:23 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#30. To: bluegrass (#29)

The Obamites are the same mindset that would have backed the Crown during the 1770's-1780's.

Yeah, sure, and McKook was George Washington reincarnated.

Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. T. S. Eliot

iconoclast  posted on  2008-12-05   10:46:09 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#31. To: iconoclast (#30)

McCain and Obama are two ends of the same stale-ass bale of hay served up to the sheep by the Money Shepherds. Why do you keep bleating for more?

Eff the Bankers

bluegrass  posted on  2008-12-05   11:00:23 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#32. To: iconoclast (#30)

Yeah, sure, and McKook was George Washington reincarnated.

Slamming the Obummer-nutters is every patriotic Americans' duty, considering that Obummer is the most politically degenerate American to ever aspire to sit in the Oval Office. Obama is just a Robert Mugabe-lite, his white half will temper that savage African streak that always lurks beneath the thin veneer of civilization. And I do mean "thin".

“The best and first guarantor of our neutrality and our independent existence is the defensive will of the people…and the proverbial marksmanship of the Swiss shooter. Each soldier a good marksman! Each shot a hit!”
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941

X-15  posted on  2008-12-05   11:29:17 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#33. To: iconoclast, bluegrass (#30)

Yeah, sure, and McKook was George Washington reincarnated.

Great. More binary thinking..

Gawd I miss Uncle Polak, wish he were here..

Lady X  posted on  2008-12-05   13:53:28 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#34. To: Lady X (#33)

Uncle Polak

I used to have his email addy. Sadly, I lost it in a hard drive meltdown.

He must be laughing his butt off.

Eff the Bankers

bluegrass  posted on  2008-12-05   13:57:03 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#35. To: Lady X (#33)

If you aren't an Ocommie then surely you're a mcTraitor.

People on this site should not fain such stupidity and ignorance.

No one's buying

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams

Rotara  posted on  2008-12-05   13:59:01 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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