'Birther' lawsuit has setback

WASHINGTON (ABP) – California pastor Wiley Drake’s three-year legal
battle challenging President Obama’s eligibility received a setback Dec.
22, when the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said he and other
plaintiffs lacked legal standing to file their complaint.

A three-judge panel of the federal court based in Washington upheld a central California district court’s October 2009 dismissal of the lawsuit filed Jan. 20, 2009, the day Barack Obama was sworn in as president, but for slightly different reasons.

U.S. District Judge David Carter had said the plaintiffs lacked standing
because Congress – not federal courts – has authority to remove a
sitting president. The appellate court didn’t dispute the
“redressability” issue cited by the lower court but added that in order
to have standing the plaintiffs should have filed the lawsuit prior to
the November 2008 election.