"Supreme Court may hear Obama citizenship suit
Tom Ramstack
Thursday, December 4, 2008

The Supreme Court plans to decide Friday whether to hear a case that
could determine whether President-elect Barack Obama ever becomes the
nation's full-fledged president.

The Supreme Court judges' conference today will consider the lawsuit
filed by New Jersey attorney Leo Donofrio. He contends Mr. Obama is
not a "natural born citizen," as the U.S. Constitution requires.

Mr. Donofrio concedes Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii. He argues,
however, that Mr. Obama was a British citizen due to his father's
British citizenship.

The judges' conference today resulted from more than a dozen lawsuits
challenging Mr. Obama's right to be president based on his citizenship
at birth.

Mr. Donofrio originally sued New Jersey Secretary of State Nina
Mitchell Wells seeking a court order to stop the Nov. 4 presidential
election. That was denied.

At least four of the Supreme Court's nine judges must approve before
the case is heard. It would mark the first time in American history
the questionable citizenship of a winning presidential candidate would
go before the Supreme Court.