Source: http://puzo1.blogspot.com/2012/05/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 00:27:19+00:00

Document:
Obama and the New Jersey Attorney General have until Friday, May 25, 2012, to file and serve their responding Brief and Appendix.
Telephonic oral argument is scheduled for Wednesday, May 30, 2012, at 1:00 p.m., before Hon. Clarkson S. Fisher, Jr., P.J.A.D., Hon. Linda G. Baxter, J.A.D., and Hon. Philip S. Carchman, J.A.D.
I just received word from the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division that the appellate oral arguments that were initially scheduled for Wednesday, May 30, 2012, at 1:00 p.m. by TELEPHONE have been changed to in-person oral argument in the OPEN COURT ROOM.
Judges: Hon. Clarkson S. Fisher, Jr., P.J.A.D.; Hon. Linda G. Baxter, J.A.D.; Hon. Philip A. Carchman, J.A.D.
Method: In person argument on the record in open court room (not telephonically).
I hope to see members of the interested public at the oral arguments so that you can learn first hand what the issues and arguments are.
On Friday, May 11, 2012, I filed with the New Jersey Appellate Division on behalf of Nicholas E. Purpura and Theodore T. Moran their appeal of the New Jersey Secretary of State’s final decision to permit presidential candidate Barack Obama on the New Jersey primary ballot.
1. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) and Secretary of State (SOS) erred in finding that Obama, because he does not have to consent to his nominating petition, does not have any legal obligation to provide any evidence to the New Jersey Secretary of State proving who he is, where he was born, and that he is constitutionally eligible to occupy the Office of President in order to be placed on the New Jersey primary election ballot.
2. The ALJ and SOS erred in finding that a “natural born Citizen” includes any child who is born in the United States and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” regardless of the citizenship status of the parents.
3. The ALJ and SOS erred in finding that Obama was born in Hawaii, for there is no evidence in the record supporting such a finding.
On Monday, May 7, 2012, at 2:30 p.m., pro se litigant, Christopher Earl Strunk, will have to show cause before Hon. Arthur M. Schack, at Part 27, in Room 479, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201, why he should not be made to pay for the defendants’ attorneys’ fees in his case in which he claims that putative President Barack Obama is not an Article II “natural born Citizen” because he was not born to citizen parents. There are many attorneys involved and one can just imagine the size of the bill that they will present to the Court.
Here are the facts that give rise to Strunk’s legal action. Pro se litigant, Christopher Earl Strunk, commenced his election challenge case in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by filing a complaint on March 22, 2011, in which he alleged “breach of state constitutional fiduciary duty by the NEW YORK( STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS and public officer defendants; denial of equal protection for voter expectation of a correct ballot; denial of substantive due process for voter expectation of a correct ballot; interference with the right to a republican form of government by the two Jesuit defendants and defendant F.A.O. SCHWARZ, JR., who were all members of the New York City Campaign Finance Board; interference with plaintiffs election franchise; a scheme to defraud plaintiff of a reasonable expectation of successful participation in the suffrage process; and, a scheme by all defendants for unjust enrichment.” Decision and Order, p. 3-4. He included as a defendant “Soebarkah (a.k.a. Barry Soetoro, a.k.a. Barack Hussein Obama, a.k.a. Steve Dunham.
The defendant filed motions with Hon. Arthur M. Schack to dismiss Strunk’s complaint with prejudice. Strunk along with defendants many attorneys had oral argument on the motions before Judge Schack in August 2011. Judge Schack includes in his Decision and Order parts of the transcript of that oral argument. Judge Schack reserved decision.
While his case was pending, it was brought to Strunk’s attention that the State of New York’s instructions for getting on the presidential ballot, rather than state that a presidential candidate has to be a “natural born Citizen” pursuant to Article II, Section 1, Clause 5, said that the President only had to be “Born a Citizen.” He wrote to the state election authorities and pointed out the error. He asked that a correction be made to state that a presidential candidate must be a “natural born Citizen” which is what Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of our Constitution clearly and plainly states.
The State of New Jersey also had the same type of error. At first, the Secretary of State’s instruction, using plain citizenship as the criteria for eligibility, did not state that the President had to be a “natural born Citizen.” A concerned citizen wrote to the Secretary of State and pointed out the error and she simply made the correction by stating that a presidential candidate must be a “natural born Citizen.” The correct New Jersey instructions can be viewed at http://www.scribd.com/puzo1/d/91538227-New-Jersey-SOS-Eligibility-Instructions-for-Presidential-Primary-2012 . Strunk was looking for the same type of relief which would have satisfied his concerns regarding the wording of the eligibility instructions. But the State of New York would have none of it.
Not receiving any satisfaction, in October 2011, Strunk filed an order to show cause, asking that the court issue an order to the New York State Board of Elections that it correct the eligibility instruction from “born a Citizen” to “natural born Citizen.” Judge Schack denied his application as premature. At the October 25, 2011, hearing on his order to show cause, Strunk stated to counsel for the New York State Board of Elections that he would be willing to settle his litigation if the New York State Board of Elections would change the ballot instruction from "Born a Citizen" to "Natural-born Citizen." The attorney told him that they could not do that. Strunk appealed Judge Schack’s denial order and was told by the appeals court that Judge Schack’s order was an interlocutory order (not a final order) and so that court dismissed his appeal. In the meantime, he was back before Judge Schack on his pending complaint.
Judge Schack finally decided the case on April 11, 2012, at which time he entered his Decision and Order. Judge Schack granted defendants’ motions and dismissed Strunk’s complete complaint with prejudice. Judge Schack also granted a motion to admit pro hac vice one of the defendant’s attorney, finding that he was in good standing. It should be known that the Georgia court denied Attorney Van Iron’s motion for pro hac vice admission and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania denied my motion for pro hac vice admission, even thought we are both in good standing.
Judge Schack started his opinion by stating that “[i]f the complaint in this action was a movie script, it would be entitled The Manchurian Candidate Meets The Da Vinci Code.
He found that Strunk did not sufficiently allege an injury in fact and therefore does not have standing which causes the court not to have jurisdiction over his claims.
Judge Schack found that because it is not possible to easily gain notice from reading his complaint what his particular cause of action is, the complaint must be dismissed for failure to state a cause of action.
Judge Schack concluded that Strunk’s fraud claim also needed to be dismissed because he did not plead with particularity that he relied upon any of the defendants’ statement and did not plead that he suffered any pecuniary loss as a result of statement of any of the defendants.
Judge Schack found that the court has no jurisdiction because of the political question doctrine and because, while finding no problem with his service upon the other main defendants, Judge Schack found that Strunk did not properly serve Obama and McCain.
Judge Schack concluded that Strunk already litigated “many of the issues” in the instant action in federal court and in Strunk v. Paterson, Index No. 29642/08, where the issues were decided against him. He therefore found that under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, he could not re-litigate those same issues in the instant action.
Judge Schack also denied Strunk’s cross motion to consolidate the instant action with another New York state case, Strunk v. Paterson, and to transfer the case to Judge Schmidt because the Paterson case was already dismissed.
Judge Schack also dismissed Strunk’s complaint on the ground that it was both factually and legally frivolous.
Finally, Judge Schack also ordered that Strunk is precluded from relitigating the same claims against the same defendants in the New York state court without first obtaining prior written approval from an administrative justice or judge.
Judge Schack has now ordered that Strunk show cause why he should not be made to pay for the costs incurred by all the defendants in having to retain and pay for their attorneys to defend them against his action.
every favorable inference (seeDoria v Masucci, 230 AD2d 764 ).
[2d Dept 2004]) (all emphasis in the original).
The court found that Strunk did not sufficiently allege an injury in fact and therefore does not have standing. It found that the court therefore did not to have jurisdiction over his claims. Judge Schack applied federal court standing standards to a state election challenge case. Many states in the union have liberal standing standards when it comes to allowing voters of their states to file election ballot challenges, with just requiring that the person be a registered voter of the state. Pennsylvania at most, requires a voter who files a ballot challenge to be of the same party as the candidate of whom the challenger complains. New Jersey has no same party requirement. The federal court standing standards have no application in the state election law challenge. Strunk should be given standing to bring his ballot challenge.
Judge Schack found that because it is not possible to easily gain notice from reading his complaint what his particular cause of action is, the complaint must be dismissed for failure to state a cause of action. But with pro se complaints, courts have an obligation to fully and in good faith search the complaint for a cause of action. As I will show below, Strunk more than adequately sets out a cause of action which can be discerned by an indulgent reading of the complaint.
Judge Schack found that the court has no jurisdiction because of the political question doctrine. He found that the question of presidential eligibility and necessarily the meaning of a “natural born Citizen” are left by the Constitution to the Electoral College and Congress in joint session when it counts the Electoral College votes. He even cites and relies upon 3 U.S.C. Sec. 15 which only applies after the general election and when the Congress is in joint session counting the Electoral Votes. Without even acknowledging that Obama is currently a candidate in the 2012 presidential election, he relies on the Electoral College’s and Congress’s lack of objection to Obama’s eligibility in the 2008 presidential election.
But what is worse is that Judge Schack confounds and conflated candidates with incumbents. He states that Strunk challenges the eligibility of “President Obama.” He did not state that it is “Candidate Obama” that Strunk challenges. The court relies strictly upon the Electoral College and Congress to decide whether incumbents are eligible for presidential office. He states that the states have no role to play in that process.
But the meaning of any specific clause of the Constitution is a judicial question and one to be authoritatively decided by the United States Supreme Court. That decision under the supremacy clause is binding on the entire nation. 1 Story on the Constitution, sec. 387.
Also, states do have a critical responsibility to ensure that candidates on state ballots for federal office meet constitutional eligibility requirements. By cutting the states out of making sure that presidential candidates are eligible for the office they seek, the court has cut out the states play in properly vetting presidential candidate early in the election process so as to not allow any unqualified candidate to advance too far and even to the point where the general public is voting for an ineligible candidate.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/74176180/Qualifications-for-President-and-the-%E2%80%9CNatural-Born%E2%80%9D-Citizenship-Eligibility-Requirement (as I explain herein, I do not agree with Jack Maskell’s definition of a “natural born Citizen” which is any person who is a “citizen of the United States” from the moment of birth, regardless of to whom or where born). The CRS adds that ''there is no specific federal agency or office that 'vets' candidates for federal office as to qualifications or eligibility prior to elections."
Without any federal laws or guidelines on presidential vetting, the federal government has not precluded the states from doing so. Hence, the best time to resolve Strunk’s ballot challenge is at the primary level. At the primary level, it is candidate Obama himself who wants to appear on the ballot. Under the Constitution and state law, it is the candidate who has to prove that the candidate is eligible to be placed on that primary ballot. Strunk should not be made to challenge Obama’s eligibility only after the general election in November 2012. At that point, Obama can argue that the public votes for electors and not him and therefore only the eligibility of electors can be challenged. Plaintiffs should not be made to rely on the Electoral College or Congress for resolving their challenge to Obama’s eligibility to be elected President. At that point, Obama can argue that the courts do not have jurisdiction to tell the Electoral College or Congress how to do their jobs.
In The Federalist No. 68, Alexander Hamilton explained that the President was a “person to whom so important a trust was to be confided.” He advocated that the Electoral College “will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to so complicate an investigation.” He said that because the President was “so an important agency in the administration of the government,” “tumult and disorder” were to be avoided in selecting the President. What better way than for the states to aid in this complex investigation of that person who should want to run for that most important office. Surely by requiring any such candidate to produce documentary evidence of his or her identity and place of birth is a first step in producing that needed information which is so vital to such a complicated investigation. The states therefore serve a vital role in the beginning stages of the vetting of any presidential candidate. Such vetting should start as soon as possible so as to avoid parties becoming entrenched in their selections and wanting to win at all costs at the expense of the people and their Constitution.
Furthermore, to allow an ineligible candidate to advance to the Electoral College or even to Congress in joint session only brings with it tremendous cost, embarrassment for both political parties, political haggling, insults and ridicule, and finger pointing, all at the expense of the Constitution. It is best that presidential eligibility requirements are met prior to the election of a candidate in order to avoid the prospect of Congress being asked and having to invalidate national election results. What better way to secure liberty and support the Constitution than to allow all our political institutions, including those of the states, to have a role in presidential vetting.
Judge Schack found that the court has no jurisdiction because Strunk did not properly serve Obama and McCain. While finding no problem with his service upon the other main defendants, Judge Schack found that Strunk did not properly serve Obama and McCain. The court did not find that Obama and McCain were indispensable parties and that the action could not proceed without their presence in the action. Hence, service upon the other defendants is sufficient to give the court jurisdiction over his claims against the other defendants which concern both Obama and McCain.
Judge Schack found that Strunk’s claim that Obama is not a “natural born Citizen” is frivolous. The “natural born Citizen” issue is the heart and soul of Strunk’s action. Judge Schack states that " ‘[a] complaint containing as it does both factual allegations and legal conclusions, is frivolous where it lacks an arguable basis’ and ‘embraces not only the inarguable legal conclusion, but also the fanciful factual allegation.’ (Neitzke v Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 ).” Hence, Judge Schack looked to both the alleged facts and legal claims made by Strunk relative to the “natural born Citizen” claim in order to determine whether his complaint was frivolous.
As to Strunk’s factual allegations, he has adequately pled in his complaint that Obama’s father was not a U.S. citizen at the time of Obama’s birth wherever that may be. As proof of this fact, he relies upon Obama’s admission in his book, Dreams from My Father, the INS (immigration) file on Obama’s father, the alleged Certificate of Live Birth that Obama released via the internet on April 27, 2011, and the Obama-Dunham divorce papers. While it could be argued that portions of Strunk’s complaint (references to the Vatican, Roman Catholic Church, and the Society of Jesus and inclusion of a long list of defendants) rise to the level of the “irrational,” the thrust of his legal argument, that Obama is not an Article II “natural born Citizen” as we shall see below is eminently reasonable. Whether or not Obama is an Article II “natural born Citizen” citizen under the American common law standard that has been in place since the Founding is not a conspiracy theory or what Judge Schack pejoratively calls a “birther case.” There are some factual allegations in Strunk’s complaint that could raise some eyebrows. We can also understand Strunk’s frustration and his naming defendants who he believes have allowed Obama to proceed unchallenged and others who he believes should be “taking responsibility to enforce the law which has not been done” regarding the question of Obama’s eligibility to be President. Decision and Order, p. 20 (Strunk speaking at oral arguments). Strunk does add some questionable factual allegations in his complaint about the defendants’ religious motivations. He does express an “irrational anti-Catholic bias.” But those questionable factual allegations regarding defendants’ motivations are not relevant to the question of what is a “natural born Citizen” and whether Obama meets that definition. Those suspect factual allegations which he “weaves” into his complaint should therefore not trump the sound part of his complaint and be used as a means to create a circus-type atmosphere in the court and thereby to obfuscate the real argument that he makes which is that Obama does not meet the status quo American common law definition of a “natural born Citizen,” which definition as we can see below is adequately shown to exist by the historical record and case law of our United States Supreme Court.
Herbert Hoover's mother was born in Norwich, Ontario, Canada.
But Strunk did not argue that a “natural born Citizen” child has to be born to “two United States born parents” or that “both parents . . . must have been born on U.S. soil.” This argument is strictly a creation of Judge Schack. Rather, Strunk argued that a "natural born Citizen" is a child born in the United States to "citizen" parents.
Strunk correctly argues that "born Citizen" is not the same as "natural born Citizen." The first step in constitutional interpretation is textual analysis of the clause in question. In that analysis, we have to look at each and every word of the clause which includes "natural" and define that word. By using “born Citizen” rather than “natural born Citizen,” would be saying that we do not need to consider and define "natural," that the Framers just threw that word in as surplusage.
On the contrary, the word "natural" is part and parcel of the full clause, "natural born Citizen." The clause as a whole is a word of art, an idiom. The historical record shows that it has always been used as such and that it has never been used in some expanded way as “born Citizen” suggests. Indeed, the clause is a unitary phrase with a unitary meaning. Hence, "natural" cannot be separated from the clause. Rather what needs to be done is to search for the meaning of the whole clause and not its parts.
For this time-honored natural law/law of nations/American “common-law” definition of a “natural born Citizen”, see Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162 (1875) (decided after the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted in 1868 and holding that "all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners"). What Minor said about a “natural born Citizen” was confirmed in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898) (acknowledging and confirming Minor’s American common law definition of a “natural-born citizen” but adding based on the English common law that since “‘[t]he child of an alien, if born in the country, is as much a citizen as the natural-born child of a citizen, and by operation of the same principle [birth in the country]’” (bracketed information supplied), a child born in the United States to domiciled alien parents was a Fourteenth Amendment “citizen of the United States”). This American common law definition of a “natural born Citizen” has never been changed, not even by the Fourteenth Amendment (only uses the clause "citizen of the United States" and does not mention "natural born Citizen") or Wong Kim Ark, and therefore still prevails today. Both those U.S. Supreme Court cases define a "natural born Citizen" as a child born in a country to parents who are citizens of that country.
This American common law definition of a “natural born Citizen” has also been recognized and accepted by a Founder and member of our U.S. Supreme Court as early as 1814 in The Venus, 12 U.S. (8 Cranch) 253, 289 (1814) (Chief Justice John Marshall dissenting and concurring for other reasons). It was also again confirmed by Inglis v. Sailors’ Snug Harbor, 28 U.S. 99 (1830) and Shanks v. Dupont, 28 U.S. 242, 245 (1830). It was again confirmed by Justice Daniels in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857).
I have shown that the original American “common-law” definition of a “natural born Citizen” was not changed by either the Fourteenth Amendment or Wong Kim Ark, which only deal with a “citizen of the United States” and not a “natural born Citizen.” Hence, the same original definition of a “natural born Citizen” was again expressly confirmed by the whole U.S. Supreme Court in Minor and Wong Kim Ark, and a lower federal court in Ex parte Reynolds, 20 F.Cas. 582, 5 Dill. 394, No. 11,719 (C.C.W.D.Ark 1879) and United States v. Ward, 42 F.320 (C.C.S.D.Cal. 1890). Finally, this same definition was implicitly confirmed by Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1872), Elk v. Wilkins, 112 U.S. 94 (1884), Perkins v. Elg, 307 U.S. 325 (1939) and Schneider v. Rusk, 377 U.S. 163 (1964).
Given the meaning of the clause since time immemorial; the enlightened intellectual mindset of the Founding period which focused on natural law and the law of nations as commented upon by Cicero, Pufendorf, Burlamaqui, John Locke, Rousseau, Emer de Vattel; the motivating spirit of the American Revolution; the Founders and Framers desire to preserve the constitutional republic for Posterity; the way that founding –era legal scholars such as Chief Justice John Marshall, David Ramsay, St. George Tucker, and James Wilson defined American citizenship; Congressional acts on naturalization; U.S. Supreme Court case law; and the historical record as a whole, this is the most natural interpretation of the clause.
Regarding the citizenship status of the parents of a “natural born Citizen,” the Constitution and Congressional Acts clearly and without question show that a “citizen” may be one either by being “natural born” or naturalized either at birth or after birth. Hence, what Strunk argued is that a child needs to be born in the country to parents who are both either “natural born Citizens” or “citizens of the United States” by naturalization at birth or after birth. He did not argue that the parents needed to be born citizens or born on the soil of the United States. None of the legal actions filed against Obama on his eligibility have made such an argument and neither did Strunk. So it is totally irrelevant to Strunk’s claim that “Obama is the sixth U. S. President to have had one or both of his parents not born on U.S. soil,” for under his interpretation of the Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 and his definition of a "natural born Citizen," those presidents, other than Chester A. Arthur who like Obama cannot benefit from Article II's grandfather clause and was not born to citizen parents, qualified to be President.
Surely, all this shows that Strunk did allege a particular cause of action and gave sufficient notice of both the facts and the law that support his cause of action. All this also shows that it is not true that Strunk’s complaint presents no legitimate basis in law or fact which warrants sanctions. Even assuming arguendo that the Court is correct about standing, jurisdiction, and collateral estoppel, the Court did not say that these grounds of dismissal support the Court’s finding that the action is frivolous. Rather, the Court’s finding of frivolous concerns Strunk’s definition of a “natural born Citizen.” I have shown that his definition is more than reasonable to raise a genuine constitutional question. Hence, his complaint is not frivolous.
As Judge Schack correctly states, “all litigants have a right to impartial and considered justice.” Muka v. New York State Bar Association. 120 Misc. 2d 897 (Sup. Ct. Tompkins County 1983). But Judge Schack’s references to “ ‘birther’ cases” “ ‘birther’ action,” “ ‘birther’ movement,” “his fellow ‘birthers,’” is hardly any show of actually receiving that “impartial and considered” justice. “Birther” is a pejorative term that is used by Obama’s supporters. It is a quick way to dismiss through ridicule and ad hominem attack any argument that is made that Obama is not an Article II “natural born Citizen.” As I have shown, whether Obama is a “natural born Citizen” is not some conspiracy or “lunatic fringe” argument. Rather, it is, as even the federal court in Tennessee has confirmed, a legitimate and substantial constitutional issue which to date has escaped being address in any meaningful way.
Apart that there is no factual or legal basis for the Court to sanction Mr. Strunk, there are also public policy reasons for not doing so. Judge Schack states in his opinion that sanctions of the court are designed to punish in the present so as to deter what the court deems unacceptable behavior in the future. The court adds that such a policy is justified in that it works to save judicial resources. On the contrary, for the Court to sanction Mr. Strunk under the existing circumstances would not only save judicial resources by preventing him from filing further Article II eligibility actions in New York in the future, but would do a great disservice to our system of justice and republican form of government. With any such sanction, the public, not knowing the full details of this matter and after having been bombarded by manipulated and propagandist use of the court’s sanction decision by Obama’s supporters, will come away with the thought that Mr. Strunk was sanctioned by the “Supreme Court of the State of New York” because he filed a complaint in a court of law claiming that Mr. Obama is not an Article II “natural born Citizen.” The public will therefore not only be made to think that there is no legitimate basis in filing any such legal actions against Mr. Obama, but also that if anyone so dare, he or she will be severely sanctioned by our courts. Additionally, because we follow the doctrine of stare decisis (to abide by or adhere to decided cases), other courts will be pressured to do the same should anyone file any such action. Hence, we can easily see the chilling effect that the Court’s sanction will have to not only people resorting to our court’s in search of what they deem to be justice, but also stifling the free exercise of political speech and discourse in all corners of America. This is especially grave given that Mr. Obama is now being more carefully publicly and privately vetted for his re-election.
For these reasons, the Supreme Court of the State of New York should not sanction or otherwise discipline pro se litigant, Chris Shrunk, and should discharge its show cause order.
Fox News Is Spreading False Information on the Meaning of a “Natural Born Citizen"
"That is how legal experts interpret the 'natural born' requirement.. and how you get that status is actually pretty open. Until the Supreme Court weighs in on this issue (and there are no plans that we know of that that will happen)... -- to your emails... Senator Marco Rubio and Governor Bobby Jindal are both eligible to run and become Vice President or President."
1. He fails to understand that “Citizens of the United States” and their “natural born Citizen” children already existed since after July 4, 1776 and before the Constitution was adopted in 1787. The Founding generation knew who those citizens were. That generation abandoned the English feudal and monarchial notion of subjecthood and perpetual allegiance to the King. They replaced the notion of membership in the civil society by calling their members “citizens” and “natural born Citizens” rather than “subjects” and “natural born subjects” and providing that children followed the political condition of their parents who by free will selected that condition for them until their age of majority at which time they were free to accept or change that choice, not that of some King without choice and for life. While the Constitution itself does not define a "natural born Citizen," historical evidence and case law from the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts do so. That evidence shows that a "natural born Citizen" is a child born in the United States to parents who at the time of their birth were both either "natural born Citizens" or "citizens of the United States." See my blog at http://puzo1.blogspot.com/ for a discussion of this historical evidence and case law.
This eligibility clause shows that the Framers during the period that the grandfather clause of Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 was in effect (for births prior to the adoption of the Constitution), allowed naturalized citizens to be eligible to be President. After the grandfather clause expired (for births after the adoption of the Constitution), it was no longer sufficient to be simply a “citizen of the United States” to be eligible to be President, for such citizens also include naturalized citizens. Rather, one had to now show that one was a “natural born Citizen” which was not a naturalized citizen by any positive law.
3. The Founders and Framers required that future Presidents and Commanders in Chief of the Military be "natural born Citizens" so as to assure that they would be born with undivided and sole allegiance and love of country only to the United States. This was needed as a "strong check" on foreign influence (John Jay letter of July 25, 1787 to George Washington) and to make sure that foreign nations could not “raise a creature of their own to the chief magistracy of the Union." Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, No. 68. Persons who are “citizens of the United States,” as Mr. Baier includes as “natural born Citizen,” but not “natural born Citizens,” as correctly defined under American common law, are born with dual and conflicting allegiances. They are not born with unity of allegiance and citizenship to the United States. The Founders and Framers simply did not put their trust in such persons to take over the singular and great powers of the presidency and commander in chief of the military.
4. The Constitution on matters of citizenship in Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 gave Congress the power only to naturalize persons to become “citizens of the United States.” This power could not and does not include the ability to define a “natural born Citizen” any differently than how the People who adopted the Constitution defined that term. To give Congress such power would give it power to change the presidential eligibility requirements of Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 without constitutional amendment. So the Constitution gave power to Congress to add through naturalization more citizens to the original “Citizens of the United States” and “natural born Citizens.” But such power did not include the power to make more “natural born Citizen” other than by birth in the United States to citizen parents. We can see that Congress only uses the clause "citizen of the United States" in its naturalization acts, including the statutes cited by Mr. Baier. In none of the statutes cited by Mr. Baier do we see the clause "natural born Citizen."
5. Mr. Baier would like for us to believe that all "legal experts" agree with him. That is an outlandish claim.
6. Mr. Baier would like for us to believe that his legal position is the status quo and that only by the U.S. Supreme Court changing it will the law change. The truth is that there is no U.S. Supreme Court decision that agrees with his position. Hence, what he says is not the legal status quo. Rather, the last time the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the matter as to what is a “natural born Citizen” was in Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162 (1875) (decided after the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted in 1868 and holding that "all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners"). What Minor said about a “natural born Citizen” was confirmed in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898) (acknowledging and confirming Minor’s American common law definition of a “natural-born citizen” but adding based on the English common law that since “‘[t]he child of an alien, if born in the country, is as much a citizen as the natural-born child of a citizen, and by operation of the same principle [birth in the country]’” (bracketed information supplied), a child born in the United States to domiciled alien parents was a Fourteenth Amendment “citizen of the United States”). This American common law definition of a “natural born Citizen” has never been changed, not even by the Fourteenth Amendment (only uses the clause "citizen of the United States" and does not mention "natural born Citizen") or Wong Kim Ark, and therefore still prevails today. Both those U.S. Supreme Court cases define a "natural born Citizen" as a child born in a country to parents who are citizens of that country. Hence, it is Mr. Baier who needs a U.S. Supreme Court decision to change the current status of the law, not us who know what the law is.
Based on the current state of the law as presented by the historical record and our U.S. Supreme Court, putative President Barack Obama (born to a British/Kenyan father in an undetermined location), Senator Marco Rubio (born to Cuban parents in the United States), and Senator Bobby Jindal (born to Indian parents in the United States) are all not “natural born Citizens.” That means that under Article II, Section 1, Clause 5, none of them are eligible to be elected President or Vice-President.

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