"Jerusalem birth case kept alive by ruling" by Jesse J. Holland | Associated Press, March 27, 2012
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the federal courts should decide whether a law that would allow Jerusalem-born Americans to list Israel as their birthplace on their US passport passes constitutional muster.
Why not? It's the 51st state, and the most powerful of all. Who do you think got the law passed?
The justices, in an 8-to-1 decision, overturned a lower court ruling that said the judiciary could not get involved in a political fight mixing Middle Eastern politics with a dispute between Congress and the president.
“The courts are fully capable of determining whether this statute may be given effect, or instead must be struck down in light of authority conferred on the executive by the Constitution,’’ said Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the majority opinion.
“Ours is a court of final review and not first view,’’ said Roberts, who sent the case back to the lower courts for a rehearing.
The parents of Jerusalem-born Menachem Zivotofsky sued the State Department after it would not issue the boy a passport showing he was born in Israel. The United States has refused to recognize any nation’s sovereignty over Jerusalem since Israel’s creation in 1948.
Related: Obama Was Born in Israel
You didn't know that?
At the time, Jerusalem was divided, with Israel controlling the western part of the city and Jordan holding sway over the eastern sector, which includes Jewish, Muslim, and Christian holy sites. Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war, annexed the area, and proclaimed the once-divided city as its capital. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their capital.
The international community does not recognize the Israeli annexation and says the fate of the holy city should be resolved through negotiations.
Congress passed the law seeking to give Americans born there the right to have Israel listed as their birthplace in 2002, but Republican and Democratic administrations have refused to enforce it.
Alas, Americans, you have more hope in your executive when it comes to Israel. Congress just rolls over and does what they are instructed to do by AIPAC.
The government said the passport policy is in line with longstanding US foreign policy that says the status of Jerusalem should be resolved in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Justice Stephen Breyer was the only dissenter, saying there is a “serious risk’’ that judicial “intervention will bring about ‘embarrassment,’ show lack of ‘respect’ for the other branches, and potentially disrupt sound foreign policy decision making.’’
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed, saying that the federal judiciary has no authority to consider the matter, which they have labeled a political dispute that is best resolved by the other two branches of government, without court involvement.
The Obama administration, like its Republican and Democratic predecessors, says it does not want to stir up anger in the Arab world by appearing to take a position on the ultimate fate of Jerusalem.
But Roberts said the question is a judicial one, not a political one.
In a separate case, the high court said it will decide whether detailed documentation is necessary in court to prove that drug-search dogs are effective at finding contraband and drugs.
The high court decided to hear an appeal by Florida officials of the work done by Aldo, a dog used by the Liberty County sheriff. The Florida Supreme Court threw out drug evidence obtained against Clayton Harris during a 2006 traffic stop. It ruled that saying a drug dog has been trained and certified to detect narcotics is not enough to establish the dog’s reliability in court.
Especially when he is barking testimony.
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