MISSION VIEJO, CA -- Is Barack Obama the legitimate president of the United States? Can he be sworn in Sunday?
In lawsuit after lawsuit, South Orange County's Orly Taitz has repeatedly said ‘no.’
Taitz, who has claimed residence in Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita, lost her latest legal battle in federal court Wednesday as she sought to bar the president's swearing-in.
Her claim that Obama "committed treason, fraud or conspiracy to fabricate proof that he is a natural born American citizen" is "legally untenable," wrote U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. in the 13-page order.
England said Taitz should have taken up her claim with the U.S. Congress, for "the Constitution gives Congress, and Congress alone, the power to remove the President."
The court has no say in the matter, England said: "The Court cannot require that President Obama present, or even possess," a birth certificate or social security card.
In the decision, England lists five cases rejected by other courts that claim Obama is ineligible to serve. Then he names seven more failed cases filed by Taitz.
Why have the cases failed? Taitz said during the hearing it has been the work of "dishonest and corrupt judges."
England disagreed.
"Plaintiffs have failed in the Courts, and will undoubtedly continue to fail in the Courts, because they ask the Court to supplant the legislative branch and disregard the fundamental doctrine of separation of powers," he wrote.
