Court rejects Obama citizenship lawsuit

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Supreme Court has turned down another challenge to Barack Obama's eligibility to serve as president because of his citizenship.

The appeal by Cort Wrotnowski of Greenwich, Conn., was denied Monday without comment as the Electoral College formally elected Mr. Obama the nation's 44th president.

Mr. Wrotnowski argued that Mr. Obama was a British subject at birth and therefore cannot meet the requirement for becoming president.

He wanted the high court to halt presidential electors from meeting to formally elect Mr. Obama as president.

Echoing an appeal that was rejected by justices last week, Mr. Wrotnowski said that since Mr. Obama had dual nationality at birth - his mother was American, his Kenyan father was a British subject - he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen."

At least two other appeals over Mr. Obama's citizenship remain at the court. Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., argues that Mr. Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Mr. Obama says and Hawaii officials have confirmed.

Federal courts in Pennsylvania have dismissed Mr. Berg's lawsuit. Federal courts in Ohio and Washington state have rejected similar lawsuits.

Allegations raised on the Internet say the birth certificate, showing that Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, is a fake.

But Hawaii Health Department Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino and the state's registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, say they checked health department records and have determined there's no doubt Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii.

The nonpartisan Web site Factcheck.org examined the original document and said it does have a raised seal and the usual evidence of a genuine document.

In addition, Factcheck.org reproduced an announcement of Mr. Obama's birth, including his parents' address in Honolulu, that was published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Aug. 13, 1961.