HOT DOCUMENT: Federal Lawsuit Claims McCain’s Panama Birth Disqualifies Him From Presidency

[via JUSTIA.COM]

PREVIOUSLY: Panama Birth Canal Could Disqualify McCain

U.S. CONSTITUTION: No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

AMERICAN CHAOS: John McCain was born August 29, 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone, to two U.S. citizens. It’s a common misunderstanding that the zone was a U.S. territory – in fact, the U.S. had lease rights, but not territorial rights. “Natural Born Citizen” — “is where ONLY the natural act of one being born in a place determines the status of ones citizenship with no additional stipulations necessary to influence that status.” No law or court ruling has ever established the precise definition of a natural born citizen. It is generally agreed that a natural born citizen of the United States is any person born in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia. MORE

RELATED: Aames’ lawsuit most likely will be dismissed as premature, Manheim said. “There is no case or controversy yet. There won’t be unless or until McCain is elected president in November,” Manheim said. Still, “it’s a serious issue, and I think there are credible arguments on both sides,” Manheim said. “That being said, I can’t imagine the Supreme Court of the United States, where this would certainly wind up, denying McCain the presidency of the United States if the majority elected him.” Manheim said he believes the court would be unlikely to overturn McCain’s election based only on ambiguous language in the Constitution. MORE