Appeals court rebuffs man seeking Obama birth certificate
The state appeals court affirmed this morning the
denial of a request to inspect and review President Barack Obama’s birth
certificate.
In a 3-0 vote, the Hawaii Intermediate Court of
Appeals upheld a 2009 ruling by then-state Circuit Judge Eden Elizabeth
Hifo, who dismissed the lawsuit by a man identified as “Dr. Robert V.
Justice,” who represented himself. He listed a Beverly Hills, Calif.,
address on his court papers.
In his legal brief to the appeals court, Justice
wrote the inspection of the birth certificate will “ensure the health
and safety of all 300 million of us by making sure that our military and
our nuclear and chemical arsenals are still under our control and not
in the control of any one of our enemies.”
The appeals court said Justice sought the review
under the state open-records law requiring the disclosure of documents
based on a showing of “compelling circumstances affecting the health or
safety of any individual.”
But the court said the provision relates to access to records in “medical or safety emergency situations.”
Birth certificates are confidential under state
law, except to certain people, such as relatives, who have a “direct and
tangible interest” in the records.
Justice had written a letter dated Dec. 31, 2008,
to the state Health Department seeking to inspect the birth certificate
to “allow me and other fellow Americans to determine whether or not Mr.
Obama is eligible to hold the Office of President,” the appeals court
said.
After the department denied his request, Justice
filed the lawsuit seeking a court order directing the department to
disclose the birth certificate.
Chief Judge Craig Nakamura of the appeals court
wrote the 17-page opinion. Appeals Judge Katherine Leonard wrote a
concurring opinion.
Hawaii Appeals Court Rejects Obama Birther Suit
The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected a case seeking access to President Barack Obama's birth records.
The decision
[pdf] in Justice v. Fuddy affirms a lower court ruling and upholds the
Hawaii Department of Health's decision to deny plaintiff Dr. Robert
Justice's request to inspect and copy Obama's birth certificate.
Justice, who represented himself before the court, had argued that
while he did not have a "direct and tangible interest" in the records,
the section of the state's open records law that refers to the "health
and safety" of an individual should apply to Obama's birth records
because "the President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief of
our military and entrusted with our nuclear and chemical arsenals."
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Justice said that allowing him to inspect "the purported
birth certificate for [President Obama] will ensure the health and
safety of all 300 million of us by making sure that our military and our
nuclear and chemical arsenals are still under our control and not in
the control of any one of our enemies."
The opinion from the three-judge panel was written by Chief Justice Craig Nakamura and joined by Associate Judge Alexa Fujise. They relied on the section of state law that bars the release of vital records except to family members and others with a direct interest and rejected Justice's argument that Obama's eligibility to be president rose to the level of a medical emergency.
Associate Judge Katherine Leonard — who was nominated to be chief justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court last year by Republican Gov. Linda Lingle but was rejected by the heavily Democratic Hawaii Senate — filed her own one-page concurring opinion in which she wrote that "Dr. Justice does not have the power or authority to determine President Obama's eligibility. Only the Congress of the United States has the power to remove a sitting president."
The opinion from the three-judge panel was written by Chief Justice Craig Nakamura and joined by Associate Judge Alexa Fujise. They relied on the section of state law that bars the release of vital records except to family members and others with a direct interest and rejected Justice's argument that Obama's eligibility to be president rose to the level of a medical emergency.
Associate Judge Katherine Leonard — who was nominated to be chief justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court last year by Republican Gov. Linda Lingle but was rejected by the heavily Democratic Hawaii Senate — filed her own one-page concurring opinion in which she wrote that "Dr. Justice does not have the power or authority to determine President Obama's eligibility. Only the Congress of the United States has the power to remove a sitting president."
Posted by on 04/07/2011
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