E-Filed
05/14/2013 @ 03:37:08 PM
Honorable Robert Esdale
Clerk Of The Court
No. 1,720465
IN THE SUPREME
COURT OF ALABAMA
MCfNNISH, et df.,
HUGH
W
AppelJ_ants,
BO
v.
BETH
.C
OM
Case
.HAP N' in her capacity as secretary of state,
EF
OG
pel1ee.
ON APPEAL FROM THE CTRCUIT COURT OF MONTGOMERY
COUNTY,
ALAB
201,3_1053
TH
cv
L.
L.
OF
Appell-ants' Reply to
Dean Johnson
DEAN JOHNSON, P. C.
4030 Bal_moral Dr.
ND
S
, Suite
Huntsville, AL 35901
Tel-: (256) 88 0-5]-17
Larry
Klayman
KLAYMAN
L
FTRM
2020 Pennsylvania Ave,
IE
Suite
800
NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
FR
Tel-: (310) 595-0800
Attorneys for Appel_lants
B
pellee's Brief
TABLE OF CONIENTS
.C
OM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
OF THE
SUMMARY
ARGUMENT
ARGUMENT
W
CASE NOT
rT.
MOOT
REASONS APPELLANTS CLATM DOES NOT
11
SECRETARY SHOULD NOT ESCAPE HER
CONGRESS NOT ONLY
AUTHORITY.
CHAPM
CONCLUSION
'S
IE
ND
S
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
FR
I
EXCUSE
DUTY
2
2
.2
3
5
.5
SILENCE
OF
III.
TH
D. PRINTED BALLOTS NOT AN
IL
STATUTE DOES NOT APPLY
EF
OG
A. .]URISDICTION STRIPPING
B.
l_l_
.2
BO
I.
i
7
l0
.C
OM
TABLE OF AUTEORTTIES
Cases
v. Pennsylvania Board of
Probation and role, The
C onweal-th Court of pennsylvania,
No. 598 II, D. 2007, ,,an unr orted.
single-judge,Memorandum inion,,,
EF
OG
BO
W
Coady
Statutes And Other Legislative
thority
TH
Ala. Code S 1,7 -9-3: persons entitled
to have names printed on ballots;
failure to Secretary of State to
certify nominations
S
peal
OF
Ala. Code S 1,7-16-44: Alabama
Jurisdiction in El_ection Contests;
FR
IE
ND
U.S. Const. Art fV, 51,
l_L
Chapman's
brief fafls naturally into
.C
OM
SUMIfARY OF TEE ARGUMENT
two
W
categories: First, she argues that this court l_acks
jurisdiction to hear the case and, second, she presents
arguments discraiming any
BO
responsibirity whatsoever for
interdicting the names of potential candidates who mav
iq nrnh:l-rla
!o
vlvvqulE
EF
OG
be unqualified for the office sought, even where there
cause to suspect fraud.
r
rn the latter
r-^1- or.rnrrz Drle
aha dvers
1 rz /-nnnr^vquEyvrJ
aVe1. S tnaE.
that
orrr_y
6rn
uongress- can act
ltncltl.a'l
i f iarl
urr.1uqarr-LE.'-.
.l-f ^
4-=nrl'i
CanO.IC.ate,
^n^
af.*,
€,,-f urrsr,
l-^!u!
that
SinCe
to bar an
the
TH
barlots are arready printed it is too l-ate for
correction even if an error is manifest.
'i^
III
'll^*L^l
appeJ-lantl
OF
Since these arguments have alreadv been addressed
rrrir^rin-a'l
-
h.iaf
lrrer,
rnrl ,.r._,,t WiShinq
orrLr
tO
S
burden the Court with needl_ess redundancies,
ND
Mcrnnish and Goode wil-l address each in sunmary and
FR
IE
terse form.
ARGI'MENT
is
chapman first
argues that this case
.C
OM
fn her brief
f.
moot.
W
But this case is not moot. Mcrnnish and Goode have
carefully explained the doctrine of nonmootness in
BO
their original brief, showing that there are three
exceptions to the mootness doctrine, any one of which
EF
OG
is sufficient to render a case nonmoot, and showing,
further, that thj_s case meets, not iust the
requirement of one exception, but meets each of the
TH
t.hree. coady v. pennsylvania Board of probation and
Parole, commonwearth court of pennsylvania No. 59g M.
rr.
OF
D. 200f; (See Appelfants' Brief (AB), 12) .
chapman next propounds severar other reasons
why the AppeJ-lantst claims should fai1.
A.
ND
S
she contends that rhis court facks iurisdiction
under the "jurisdiction
stripping statue," Afa. code s
IE
r1-76-44. But as we have already explained, this
statute is re]evant to the conduct of el_ect.ions, and
FR
the election
i n .nroqi_ i an has alreadv been conducted.
are' on the contrary, asking chapman to take the
extraordinarily simple step, of demandinq birth
we
certificates
from each of the rlresi dential candidates,
.C
OM
especial-ly in the case of Barack Obama, to determine
the eligibility
candidate.
Hence s ri -16-44 is inappricabl-e .
.
(AB,
W
2r)
of each to be a bone fide presidential
B. The secretary attempts to escape her duty to
Apperl-ants' original
As explained earl_i_er in
EF
OG
she has no duty to do so.
BO
r-or.| i frz wr-rry
anl v quarJ-rf
arrrl.i
€-i eo
vsrLrrv
^,-J candi-dates by decf aring that
brief,
the statute tists
those
whose names should go on the bal-l-ot, but adds the
caveat "provided they are otherwise qualified
Al_a
. Code S I1-g-3 .
The
TH
of f ice they seek. "
for the
implication is crear: The lawmakers anticipated that
OF
there would be those who were not qualified
for the
office sought and these shoul-d be excruded. (AB, 30.
S
rn the present case there is prentiful
ND
at least one of the presidential
unqualified.
evidence that
candidates
was
chapman knew this before the el_ection
IE
and she looked aside from her clutrz and certified
FR
without so much as a superficial
inquiry.
The
Secretary of State had gaj_ned knowl_edqe from
official
an
source that there is probable cause to
him
)
bel-ieve that president obama has not met a certifvinq
.C
OM
nrr:
I i f j ^-l_.i 16
enna.i
€.i ^^
qudrr-rr-cdraorr.
DIrec-L-r_rcal1y,
Joseph M. Arpaio, sheriff
of Maricopa County Arizona (and indisputably,
official
an
concluded, as stated in hls affidavit,
'....that forgerv
and fraud was likely
W
empowered by the l-aw of the state),
BO
committed in kev ident.itv
documents including president obama's long-form birth
Reo'i
straf -i on
EF
OG
certif icate, his serective Service
and his Social Security nu er.,,
(AB, Appendix
card,,
D)
sheriff Arpaio is undoubtedly an official_ source. rn
addition, the Ful-l- Faith and credit cl_ause of the u.s.
Constitution,
Article
TH
IV, Section I, provides that
"Ful.l- Faith and Credit
sha I
I l-rc rri rzorl in each stace ro
OF
the public Acts, Records, and judicial- proceedings of
every other state. " The fact that sheriff
Arpaio is in
S
Arizona, and not in Al-abama, is irrer-evant.
ND
Arpaior ds a public official_,
the pubric in investigating
IE
President
Obama and
his
e'l
sherif f
was actj_nq on behal_f of
the quarifications
of
icrihi'l'i f rz t-.o be president of
FR
the united states, and, furl faith and credit shoutd
and must be given to his public acts and subsequenE
findings-
Fortunately for justice it is not too
r_ate
to correct
thi o a.yrodin,.g error,
and this
Court has
.C
OM
ready at hand the means to set in motion what is
needed to do so.
C. Chapman alleges that only Congress has the
authority to judge the qualifications
W
candidates after an election.
of nre.sidential
rt is true that
of the candidates, but it is not true
EF
OG
qualifications
BO
congress does indeed have the authority to judge the
that it has the excfusive authority to do so. As
a
sovereign state surery Alabama has the authority to
excl-ude from its ball-ot those who are ineliqible
The Cal-ifornia Ser:ref :rrr nf State denied
TH
office.
for
candidates in 19Gg and
again in 2012. The california
secretary of state
OF
bal-rot access for presidential
determined that those candidates did not meet the
and woul_d not arl_ow
S
constitutional- qualifications
ND
those names on the baf l_ots. (AB, 19.
D. Finally,
)
chapman preads, once again, that she was
IE
powerless to correct any error in certificatj_on
FR
the ballots had already been printed.
since
Afthouqh this
addresses an issue that is pass6, there are rwo points
that are intercsfinrr
1_n
note:
First,
aS haS been
dOne
i-n other jurisdictions,
it is simpre to correct, not
.C
OM
the printed ballot, but the effect of an erroneousrvprinted ballot, e.g., posting signs at the votins
11
-i
^ a stark
r-n
exa
roqAn1- r'=ca,, one
vf rv of
v!
the
Llrs
r Ll_LgJ for
rules
IL,l
f e here
in this
BO
q.lranrr-l
rz -Lcrrrrorces,
rai n€nrn^d
rurvrrvry
W
sites stating that votes for the bogus candidate woufd
not be counted. Second, this chronofogical pi_cture
a irrdrrmenjd,
uI
J Ljlrgrltgl.t L nf
repetition
rrr -
EF
OG
nonmootness, namery the case which is capable of
but evadinq review.
chapman's brief
silence.
speaks most loudly in its
OF
TH
A. No word is offered in arguing that the birth
certificates submitted by obama are genuine. Atl her
arguments are aimed at suppressing the truth by
avoiding a judicial mandate to do her dutv
S
discover it.
and
ND
B. chapman's sirence regarding the two carifornia
situations where the secret.ari-es of State would not
unqualified presidential candidates on the
ballots. fn 1968 Eldridoe Cl earzer wes refused ball_ot
FR
IE
al-l-ow
access and in 2012, peta Lindsey was l_ikewise refused
ballot access. (AB, 19.) The Secretary of state in
has the same authority and responsibility that
the Secretary of St.ate in Cal_ifornia has.
W
Conclusion
.C
OM
Al-abama
The questi-on of the legitimacy of obama's birth
EF
OG
BO
certificate has been a controversy that has existed for
severa] years. A11 those invol_ved have been examinino
the controversy up cl_ose in great detail_.
rt may be helpful at this point to step back, take
a deep breath, and look at the overal-l- scene from a
TH
distance, to l-ook at the forest, unobscured by close-up
trees and undergrowth, to l-ook at the ful_l_ picture, not
we see:
And when we do here
a bizarre and vicious fight being
S
We see
OF
at the individual- pixels.
ND
over the small_est trivial_ity.
We
is
what
waged
see literal1y
mil-lions of doll_ars being expended by one side
IE
defending its posi-tion, when a ten-dol-rar
documenc
FR
would resolve the issue. l We see a torrent of
' See : http : hawaii . govlheal_thlvital_-records,/vital_
records/viLar records.html- for a form to obtain a birth
certifi-cate from the Hawali Department of Hearth. The form
i-nvecti-ve being hurled indiscrimi-natef v af onr^,.nants
we see abounding inaccuracies and prevarications
And what is at the core of the issue?
A birth certificate,
It is
a
just tike
a
W
birth certifi-cate.
.C
OM
the media.
in
BO
teenager needs to obtain a l_earner's permit and iust
Iike a man needs to join the armv.
excepr
EF
OG
Yes, it is, or it ought to be, trivial_
for the circumstances of the one whose birth
certi-ficate is sought, namely that of Barack obama. He
happens to be president of the United States, but that
TH
in itseff does not change the simpricity at base.
obama, for reasons unstated, refuses to produce
OF
his true birth certificate,
and has used his power,
i nf 'l rran^a
rnA
mnnnt'
rr-trruerlceT
^ avoid doing so.
dlr..rl\Jrrey .l-LU
when this
S
scenario is seen clearly it forms an e arrassingly
ND
nonsensical- picture,
a caricature of the great
IE
cacophony and confusion surrounding this issue. were an
a required fee of $1O.OO. The DoH explains that
vital- documents wil-l- be j-ssued only to persons who "have a
direct and tangibl-e interest in the record." rn li_strng
examples of those whom they consider to have the requisite
rnterest, the first listed is "the registrant (the person
whom the record is concerned with. ) " rn this case the
l-atter is Barack Obama.
FR
shows
economist asked to conduct a benefits-co.st-^n:'1 rrsis,
.C
OM
his charge would be to determine whether the benefits
outweigh the cost and by how much. one can imaqine his
astonishment. "Prima facie-" hc min\f Sdy, "the answer
The benefits are monumental, and the costs
are infinit.esimal .
W
is visibl-e.
The benefi_ts-cost ratio,
BO
soars upward toward infinity.
therefore,
There 1s nothinq here for
EF
OG
mo1-nrlnIt
This court has both the right and the power to
su arily end this untoward controversy. By requiring
the secretary of state to
Obama and
a bona fide birth
al_l other presidential_
TH
certificate from
demand
OF
candidates, the i-ssue, insofar as Al-abama is concerned,
can be settl_ed.
FR
IE
ND
S
McInnj-sh and Goode pray the Court to do so.
L. Dear{Johnson \
(JoH04
6
)
L. DEAN .fOHNSON, Y.C.
4030 Bal-moral Dr., Suite
Huntsvill_e, AL
Tel-: (256)
Fax: (256 )
B
35801
880-5177
BB0-5187
Email : j ohnson deanGbelfsouth. net
Larry Klayman, Esq.
KLAYMAN LAW FIRM
NW,
.C
OM
2020 Pennsylvania Ave.
EF
OG
BO
W
Suite 800
Washington, DC 20006
Tel-: (310) 595-0800
Email-: l-ekl-a anGqmail-. com
Pro Hac Vice
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
TH
r HEREBY cERTrFy that on the 14 day of May 2013, T
el-ectronically filed the foregoing with the clerk of
the supreme court of Al-abama using the ACrs filing
system, which will- send notification of such filinq to
the following:
S
OF
Hon. Luther strange, Attorney Generar of Alabama
Andrew L. Brasher, Deputy Solicitor General_
Margaret L. Fleming
James W. Davis
Laura E. Howel_1
Office of the Attorney General_ of Alabama
501 Washington Street
FR
IE
ND
Montgomery, Al_abama 36130
10