Berg vs. Obama: Update and current status

As I noted previously, Philip Berg petitioned on October 30 to the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari in regard to his citizenship challenge against Barack Obama. Mr. Berg also asked the Supreme Court to stay the election in order that Mr. Obama’s citizenship could be verified. As we all know, Justice David Souter denied the request to stay the election but curiously did not dismiss the application for certiorari. Instead in accord with Supreme Court rules, December 1 was set as the deadline for President-elect Obama, the DNC and the FEC to respond to Berg’s writ. Because the Supreme Court docket 08-570 indicated that the defendants had until December 1 to respond to Berg’s application, some bloggers have erroneously proclaimed that Obama has until December 1 to produce his birth certificate. Not so. He might respond but then again he could choose not to do so.
Yesterday, I spoke with Patricia Estrada, spokeswoman for the Supreme Court, who filled in some additional details. She clarified that none of the defendants are required to file a brief in response. She also indicated that about 10,000 certiorari petitions are filed per year and under 100 are granted and then argued by the full court.
I then called the Office of the Solicitor General to ask if a response was planned by December 1. Evan Peterson emailed the following statement.

Under the Supreme Court rules, the government has until Dec. 1 to respond to the petition for certiorari. No decision has been made as to whether or when the government will file a response.
Evan Peterson
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

So Mr. Berg’s odds don’t look good and it is unclear if the Solicitor General will get involved. If the Justices grant certiorari (review), I suspect it would be on the question of whether Berg had standing as a citizen to bring suit challenging the citizenship of Obama. As I understand it, then the case would go back to the District Court for trial.
UPDATE: Berg has an ad in this week’s Washington Times weekly magazine asking for donations and people to call their Congressional representatives over Obama’s citizenship.

22 thoughts on “Berg vs. Obama: Update and current status”

  1. mccain was not a natural born citizen; shawartzneger ?sp.? is not….nobody cares…. if you do you will be ‘right wing blogger’
    we let the media decide what’s fact…to control the media is the problem

  2. Government of Kenya is no where close to be an “American” nor is Hawaii is not nor was it part of the constitution, nor is part of AMERICAN soil! I as a tax paying AMERICAN does approve of this! By denounce his KENY citizenship till does make him or anybody else a “AMERICAN CITIZEN” nor does it give anybody of any race no born in “AMERICAN” to become President-Of-United States.
    But when the AMERICAN government comes to truth about this matter, more history will be made. And egg all over every “AMERICAN PERSON OF THE UNITED STATES.
    WILDBILL

  3. Where Barack was actually born doesn’t make any difference. what does make a difference is that when did he change his name back to Barack? Obama did change any US citizenship he had when he changed his name to Barry Soronto and became an Indonesian. When did Barry become Barack?

  4. Barach Obama’s Birthday: 4 Aug 1961
    What are the rules for people born between December 23, 1952 and November
    13, 1986?
    Again, children born abroad to two US citizen parents were US citizens at birth, as long as one of the parents resided in the US at some point before the birth of the child.
    When one parent was a US citizen and the other a foreign national, the US citizen parent must have resided in the US for a total of 10 years prior to the birth of the child, with five of the years after the age of 14. An exception for people serving in the military was created by considering time spent outside the US on military duty as time spent in the US.
    http://www.lexisnexis.com/practiceareas/immigration/pdfs/web704.pdf
    So, he was born where ??? And when did his mother leave for Kenya ??
    Questions that need to be addressed !!!

  5. I am a taxpaying citizen of the United Sates. As such I feel I and every other citizen has the right to see Mr. Obama’s proof that he is a natural born citizen if the United States and qualifies to be our Commander-in-Chief. I am bewildered that he has not come forth with this information.
    I have a Certificate of Birth as well as a Vault Birth Certificate just as Mr. Obama does and I had to show my Vault Certificate to get into the military, and for other things. What is he trying to hide?

  6. clestes,
    The fact of Obama’s mother being a US citizen is not the issue. She still didn’t meet the legal requirements to claim him as a US citizen anyway. She met two of the three requirements, but not the third. She didn’t meet , being in the US for five consecutive years past the age of fourteen. She gave birth to him when she still eighteen. Under Kenya law, Barrak (aka Barry Sotero) became a citizen of Kenya. He had to take the same citizenship as the father, under the law. When Obama’s mother later moved to Indonsia, where Barry went to school. Under Indonsain law, he had to become a citizen of Indonesia to go to school there. Now we have four valid reasons why Mr. Obama is not a “natural born” US citizen. The facts are there. The supposed documents produced/manufactured by his support staff and the DNC have repeatadly been shown false. Now stick your fingers in your ears and hum REALLY loud. The reason you don’t hear about any of this on the mainstream media is because the are all owned and operated by liberal, socialists, big government, bail out, tax the world to death, fat cat, Obama-tons like you and the rest of our corrupted congress.

  7. Roxanne,
    The Supreme Court interprets US laws. In this case, Berg is asking the court to overrule the 2 lower court decisions to toss the case out for “lack of standing”.
    Mr. Obama is not required to do anything for the Dec 1 deadline on the writ of certirori. No orders have entered, nor will they be. It is NOT their decision as to whether Mr. Obama has the legal qualifications to be president. (He does because his mother gave him the status of “natural born citizen” at his birth. She was born in KS and any child of hers, no matter where they are born, will be so.)
    If, in the unlikely event they decide to overrule the lower court’s decision, the case will be sent back to the lower court for trial. It is only at that point that anything may be demanded of Mr. Obama.
    Even in that case, Berg will lose because he would have to PROVE Mr. Obama’s mother was not born in the US and also prove that Barak was not. The burden of proof is on Berg, not our 44th president.

  8. 1. Scotus must require proof from B.Obama BEFORE Dec 15th, after all it is SCOTUS job to protect the constitution; and
    2. Common sense seems to point to some kind of problem, or why wouldn’t he produce the birth certificate? When everyday employers are allegedly required to not only verify a prospective employee’s resident status, but also to inform appropriate agencies for child support issues, it seems to me this is a no brainer.
    Hiring three law firms to respond and thwart legal actions rather than produce the document in question, raises my eyebrows. Perhaps Dr. Dean (DNC Chair) would like to explain why this is an issue now, at such a late date?
    Perhaps we will all get to witness the new nearly President elect to disrespect SCOTUS and effectively establish POTUS as a branch above SCOTUS.

  9. Getting a social security card and becoming president are two different things. You don’t have to be born in the USA to get a social security card. The idea that Obama doesn’t lie is just ignorant on your part. I suspect that there is some truth to all the questions over Obama’s birth. If he is not guilty then produce the documents for inspection and answer the questions on the writ.

  10. Obama produced a Certificate of Birth…several links to it are available in previous comments. Your ‘experts’ maintain that that is somehow different from a Birth Certificate. The question will be whether the real legal experts recognize and accept the Certificate of Birth as proof of his natural born citizen status.
    One blogger mentioned that he HAD to produce his birth certificate to get his Social Security number. Obama obviously has a Social Security number which indicates to me that the distinction you are all trying to draw between a ‘Birth Certificate’ and a ‘Certificate of Birth’ is not a distinction that the government recognizes. He presented his proof then; he presented it again when this challenge was first raised. If your point is valid, they’ll dig further. If our contention that the Certificate of Birth is valid is correct, the matter is closed.

  11. Hey Anon,
    I am NOT a Republican. When John McCain was questioned about his citizenship since he was born in Panama, he immediately produced his birth certificate and declared his files open to scrutiny. When Barack Obama was questioned about his natural born citizenship, he refused to produce a birth certificate even though multiple law suits were filed against him in various states and then he had his documents sealed by the Governor of Hawaii.
    You seem like a reasonable person. What do you think?

  12. This is an outrage to the American people. I found a link that shows other suits files across the nation. The one in Ca. w/ the independants and one in the south is now class action.
    How I see it for the people we need to get together with someone like Berg and make his into a class action where there is standing then.
    Lets find out what the Obummer is hiding!!!!!!!!!

  13. This is bizarre! I had to produce my original Birth Certificate, not a copy, and my Military Discharge papers to receive Social Security. Are the American people, supposedly represented by the U. S Supreme Court, not entitled to see that a person elected to the highest office in the land, is genuinely eligible for that office? He may have perpetuated the biggest hoax and fraud this nation has ever seen. I thought he was a Constitutional lawyer and scholar! How could Chief Justice Roberts even consider administering the oath of office on Jan. 20th? He would be complicit with the fraud.

  14. Reply to Anon of 11/13/2008. What do you define as a “right wing blogger?” Would that be anything to the right of Barack Obama? If that is the case, then the “Political Spectrum” is in for a major overhaul! As to any “legal scholar who thinks Berg has a case….” well, the U.S. Constitution (remember it?) spells out the requirements one must meet to be President of the United States. If, in fact, Barack Obama IS NOT a natural born citizen of the United States and CANNOT produce a certifiable and true Certificate of Birth attesting to that fact, then there is a problem! I personally find it odd that the Obama campaign has not already supplied those concerned with this. What is the problem? Why is it taking a suite before the U.S. Supreme Court to obtain such an item? The Obama campaign’s behavior regarding this issue raises suspicions if nothing else!!

  15. eriand — DOJ and other respondents frequently waive response. See:
    No. 08-100
    Title: South Fork Band, et al., Petitioners
    v.
    United States, et al.
    Docketed: July 23, 2008
    Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
    Case Nos.: (06-16214)
    Decision Date: April 21, 2008
    ~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings and Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Jul 21 2008 Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 22, 2008)
    Aug 19 2008 Waiver of right of respondents United States, et al. to respond filed.
    Aug 27 2008 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of September 29, 2008.
    Oct 6 2008 Petition DENIED.
    Or see this one:
    No. 08-375
    Title: Lakeview Anesthesia Associates, et al., Petitioners
    v.
    Kadlec Medical Center, et al.
    Docketed: September 24, 2008
    Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
    Case Nos.: (06-30745)
    Decision Date: May 8, 2008
    Rehearing Denied: June 24, 2008
    ~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings and Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Sep 18 2008 Application (08A245) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from September 22, 2008 to October 22, 2008, submitted to Justice Scalia.
    Sep 19 2008 Application (08A245) denied by Justice Scalia.
    Sep 22 2008 Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 24, 2008)
    Oct 20 2008 Waiver of right of respondents Kadlec Medical Center, et al. to respond filed.
    Nov 5 2008 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of November 25, 2008.

  16. It is most disturbing that the DOJ is even considering not responding. . .you do understand what that means, I hope. Since no sane attorney (or defendant) would risk not responding, one can only assume there are unauthorized ex parte communications going on between the USSC and DOJ…Mr Berg you must be a part of any such communications….if not they are prohibited….the case is not heard behind closed doors with only one party. See below website:
    /2008/11/13/berg-vs-obama-update-and-current-status/
    Warren Throckmorton called the Office of the Solicitor General to ask if a response was planned by December 1. Evan Peterson emailed the following statement. So Mr. Berg’s odds don’t look good and it is unclear if the Solicitor General will get involved.
    **********************
    Under the Supreme Court rules, the government has until Dec. 1 to respond to the petition for certiorari. No decision has been made as to whether or when the government will file a response.
    Evan Peterson
    U.S. Department of Justice
    Office of Public Affairs
    *****************************************

  17. As to the merits? I don’t know. But as to the standing issue that is before the USSC and is the only issue before the USSC. . . I think yes.
    Also…it is most disturbing that the DOJ is even considering not responding. . .you do understand what that means, I hope. Since no sane attorney (or defendant) would risk not responding, one can only assume there are unauthoized ex parte communications going on between the USSC and DOJ…Mr Berg must be a part of any such communications….if not there are prohibited….the case is not heard behind closed doors with only one party.

  18. She clarified that none of the defendants are not required to file a brief in response.

    Say what???

  19. Is there a single reputable, mainstream legal scholar who thinks Berg has a case? Google turns up nothing but right-wing bloggers.

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