Texas Cruz Birther Case Decided

Another birther case challenging Sen. Ted Cruz’ eligibility to be president has been thrown out. This time it was a federal judge in Texas that did the honors. U.S. District Judge Gray Miller dismissed the case Wednesday, saying there’s no legal basis to question the senator’s status as a “natural-born” U.S. citizen.

In this case, the Cruz legal team argued the court system shouldn’t “entangle itself in a political controversy” and should steer clear of an issue the Founding Fathers reserved for Congress:

The Constitution commits decisions about presidential eligibility to the House of Representatives and the Electoral College.

Unfortunately the plaintiff Newton Schwartz, an attorney who represented himself, made it clear he intends to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans:

“You just want me to make a decision one way or the other,” the judge said to Schwartz. “And quickly,” Schwartz replied. “We want to get to New Orleans as fast as we can.”

Since the all talk and no action Trump first raised the birther issue, at least eleven judges have issued decisions that dismissed or rejected lawsuits challenging Cruz’ eligibility to be president:

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
A Broward County Court in Florida
A Cook County Court in Illinois
Administrative Law Judge Jeff S. Masin with the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law
A State Court in New York in Albany County
A New York State Appeals Court
The New York Court of Appeals
A Pennsylvania State Court
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court
The U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
The United States District Court, District of Utah

That leaves two cases to be resolved. One is Administrative Judge Masin’s decision (item4 above), which is just a recommendation, must be adopted, modified or rejected by New Jersey’s Secretary of State Kim Guadagno. Guadango is also New Jersey’s Lieutenant Governor having won the 2009 and 2013 elections as the running mate of Gov. Chris Christie, who just happens to have endorsed Trump. The other is the one currently on the U.S. Supreme Court docket pending the court’s decision as to whether it will accept the case.