Fair v. Walker (formerly v. Obama) Take 2

The undated “Amended Complaint for Declaratory Judgement (sic) and Injunctive Relief” may have been filed in Carroll County, Maryland, in the lawsuit, Fair v. Obama Walker. The most concise indication (in a very not concise complaint) of what the lawsuit is about is found in the specific relief being sought:

We respectfully request the following judgement (sic):

1. Law 8-502 be invalidated, so not to infringe upon the rights of the people.
2. Law 5-302 be followed, to restore faith and the rule of law in our election system.
3. That all candidates be required to sign under oath that they fill the requirements.
4. The members of the General Assembly that voted for this 8-502 law be censured and removed from office and prevented from running for office in the future, because they have failed to follow the U.S.Constitution, the Maryland Constitution, Article 1 Sec 7 and their own oath of office. Article 1 Sec 9.
5. A new election be held in November 2012 to elect new members of the General Assembly, the Governor and Attorney General.
6. The Secretary of State be instructed to follow 5-302 starting with this election.

If one central issue can be identified in this 40-page filing, it is that Maryland law requires that all candidates file a “certificate of candidacy”, but elsewhere requires that for the presidential primary ballot, a candidate only be generally recognized as a candidate. Maryland law Title 8, Subtitle 5, Section 8-502 Candidates for President – Primary election mandates that:

The Secretary of State shall certify the name of a presidential candidate on the ballot when the Secretary has determined, in the Secretary’s sole discretion and consistent with party rules, that the candidate’s candidacy is generally advocated or recognized in the news media throughout the United States or in Maryland….

That is, under this section a candidate for President must be placed on the ballot according to this provision. However Title 5 Subtitle 3 Section 5-301 states that one may become a candidate only upon filing a “certificate of candidacy” (note that this section excludes national party candidates for President in the general election). Title 5 appears to cover primary elections. The State has taken the more specific mandate in Title 8 as controlling and Ms. Fair wants the court to make Title 5 controlling.

I note one further provision of Maryland law: Title 5 Subtitle 6 Section 5-601 – Candidates qualifying (referring to Qualifications for Primary Election Ballot):

The name of a candidate shall remain on the ballot and be submitted to the voters at a primary election if: 

(1) the candidate has filed a certificate of candidacy…

… or

(2) the candidate has qualified to have the candidate’s name submitted to the voters in a presidential primary election under Title 8, Subtitle 5 of this article. 

Not being a lawyer, I don’t know how this will be sorted out by the court. I assume the court will quickly dismiss the part about throwing legislators out of office and turn the motion into a writ of mandamus, and based on 5-601 it would seem to me that the clear intent of the Legislature was that in the case of a Presidential primary election that 8-502 controls. (5-601 is cited in the Complaint along with huge dumps of Maryland statutes, but not addressed specifically.) The word “Constitution” appears 65 times in the Complaint, but I don’t see how either the Constitution of the United States or that of Maryland allows Ms. Fair to receive the relief sought.  This is what you would usually expect, that the Secretary of State of Maryland knows the law better than a pro se plaintiff.

An essential flaw with this “Amended Complaint for Declaratory Judgement (sic) and Injunctive Relief” is that it seeks to remove from office persons who are not named in the lawsuit (those named are Robert Walker (Chairman of the Maryland State Board of Elections), Linda H. Lamone (State Administrator of Elections), John P. McDonough (Maryland Secretary of State) and Jared DeMarinis (Director of the Candidacy and Campaign Finance Division, Maryland State Board of Elections).

Apparently the Complaint was accompanied by 9 exhibits, many of which deal with President Obama’s eligibility. One notes that the suit itself makes no request that an eligibility determination be made, and so this is irrelevant.

The Maryland Primary is April 3. In my opinion, this case is:

Doomed

About Dr. Conspiracy

I'm not a real doctor, but I have a master's degree.
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18 Responses to Fair v. Walker (formerly v. Obama) Take 2

  1. Horus says:

    Ha!

  2. I chuckled at exhibit #9.

    9. Possibly Obama’s real birth certificate from Nairobi, which needs validating.

    Now that’s what I call evidence. I think that is the one Tracy has been peddling where the paper is wrinkled but all the text and form lines are perfectly straight.

  3. Northland10 says:

    If I remember correctly, the Dutch writing in the watermark states it is a fake.

    Reality Check:
    I chuckled at exhibit #9.

    Now that’s what I call evidence. I think that is the one Tracy has been peddling where the paper is wrinkled but all the text and form lines are perfectly straight.

  4. BillTheCat says:

    She is unhinged.

  5. Someone at the Fogbow said it says that this is a fake, Obama is President, get over it. I cannot verify that.

    Northland10:
    If I remember correctly, the Dutch writing in the watermark states it is a fake.

  6. G says:

    That has been crystal clear for years…

    BillTheCat: She is unhinged.

  7. misha says:

    BillTheCat: She is unhinged.

    So is Orly and her soulmate Lieberman, the former bouncer.

  8. Yes, this was actually attached to the FogBow version of her original complaint at:

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/81882701/2012-01-26-Maryland-FAIR-v-OBAMA-Complaint-Primary-Ballot-Challenge-tfb

    Page 47 or thereabouts.

    Reality Check: Now that’s what I call evidence. I think that is the one Tracy has been peddling where the paper is wrinkled but all the text and form lines are perfectly straight.

  9. I want to start using that DOOMED logo on all the birther cases that I consider hopeless.

  10. katahdin says:

    So, all birther cases.

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    I want to start using that DOOMED logo on all the birther cases that I consider hopeless.

  11. G says:

    Yeah, pretty much.

    Honestly, beyond entertainment and just the desire of following these things as a hobby, is there any non-Birther out there that sees ANY legal avenue still being pursued by BIrthers that doesn’t earn the right to have “DOOMED” plastered over it as a logo?

    I’m seriously curious to see if anyone sees *anything* on the horizon in which there is actual doubt as to the eventual outcome of the end result…

    katahdin: So, all birther cases.

  12. HistorianDude says:

    The watermark on the “Nairobi Birth certificate” certificate says in Dutch:

    “DIT IS GEEN GELDIG DOCUMENT VAN DE OVERHEID. DIT IS POLITIEKE COMMENTAAR. HIJ IS VOORZITTER VOOR MINSTENS DRIE EN EEN HALF VAN MEER JAREN. KEUR HET GOED. DIT ZAL NIET VERANDEREN.”

    This roughly translates to:

    “This is not a valid government document. This is political commentary. He is President for at least three and a half more years. Get used to it, it’s not going to change.”

  13. J. Potter says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    I want to start using that DOOMED logo on all the birther cases that I consider hopeless.

    Aren’t tacky typefaces fun? With a little effort, some lighting effect, flames, and or dripping ooze could be added. Schlock fits the subject.

  14. Paul Pieniezny says:

    HistorianDude: “DIT IS GEEN GELDIG DOCUMENT VAN DE OVERHEID. DIT IS POLITIEKE COMMENTAAR. HIJ IS VOORZITTER VOOR MINSTENS DRIE EN EEN HALF VAN MEER JAREN. KEUR HET GOED. DIT ZAL NIET VERANDEREN.”

    Dutch, but NOT written by someone whose mother tongue is Dutch. “President” is often “voorzitter”, but not when it is a head of state. “drie en een half van meer” makes no sense – that machine translations turn it into acceptable English, suggests it may have an English origin. The first sentence sounds funny too, no Dutch speaker would say somethink like that.But it is Dutch, and not Afrikaans.

    A bit like Orly’s version of Runglish : Ebnyaglish (she also seems to know Hebroosian, Gerumane, Slatino and Syldavian – only one language has an article on Wikipedia).

  15. G says:

    ROTLFMAO!!

    Thanks for that way of describing it…

    Paul Pieniezny: A bit like Orly’s version of Runglish : Ebnyaglish (she also seems to know Hebroosian, Gerumane, Slatino and Syldavian – only one language has an article on Wikipedia).

  16. jayhg says:

    G:
    Yeah, pretty much.

    Honestly, beyond entertainment and just the desire of following these things as a hobby, is there any non-Birther out there that sees ANY legal avenue still being pursued by BIrthers that doesn’t earn the right to have “DOOMED” plastered over it as a logo?

    I’m seriously curious to see if anyone sees *anything* on the horizon in which there is actual doubt as to the eventual outcome of the end result…

    Squeeky said she had the scenario by which the birthers might win (she ran it by her BFF), but she hasn’t told anyone yet.

  17. G says:

    You must have missed it, but she told everyone that strategy already.

    It came down to Birthers buying Obama’s BC campaign mugs and then trying to sue to get access to his original BC in the vaults based on that…

    …Bottom line, there wasn’t a way to win under that approach either. At most, someone could ask for a refund on their mug if they were unhappy with it, but that is about the extent of it.

    jayhg: Squeeky said she had the scenario by which the birthers might win (she ran it by her BFF), but she hasn’t told anyone yet.

  18. misha says:

    Paul Pieniezny: A bit like Orly’s version of Runglish : Ebnyaglish (she also seems to know Hebroosian, Gerumane, Slatino and Syldavian – only one language has an article on Wikipedia).

    Don’t forget Esperanto. [bada-bing]

    Interesting fact: the creator of Esperanto was Jewish.

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