California Judge Dismisses 'Birther' Lawsuit

A federal judge in California has dismissed another case questioning President Obama's qualification to hold office, Politico's Josh Gerstein reports. In a withering 30-page ruling, the judge attacked the suit brought by prominent "birther" leader Orly Taitz on behalf of military personnel and others, and accused the plaintiffs of trying to avoid going to war. "This Court will not interfere in internal military affairs nor be used as a tool by military officers to avoid deployment. The Court has a word for such a refusal to follow the orders of the President of the United States, but it will leave the issue to the military to resolve," the judge wrote.

The California case was the latest in a string of "birther" lawsuits to be angrily tossed by judges, usually accompanied by strongly worded rulings. Taitz, who has become a leader of the litigation campaign nationwide, typically finds military personnel who will request a "stay" of their deployment on the grounds that Obama has no authority to send them out on duty. ("Birthers" believe Obama was not born in the United States and cannot legally hold office.) A similar case was dismissed in New Jersey last week, and another in Georgia earlier this month. In the Georgia case, the judge fined Taitz $20,000 for violating the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.