“When applying the law the role of judges is not to impose their own view as to best policy choices for society but to faithfully and accurately determine the policy choices already made by the people and embodied in the law.”
John Sidney McCain III
Mario Apuzzo puts out a rather compelling argument that according to Vattel, McCain could be classified as a ‘natural born’ citizen. Let’s take a look…
Under Sec. 217 of The Law of Nations transcribed by Vattel is reference to children born out of country but in the armies of the state. Apuzzo gives much weight to the phrase “reputed born”. What does this mean in legal terminology? I do not know, I am not a lawyer, and Apuzzo gives no definition of it (of which there are several for it at the time of the adoption of the constitution) in his article that he uses as the basis for his claim.
What I do know is that in the current FAM (foreign affairs manual), it clearly states that all children born in the Canal Zone, as well as the Republic of Panama are citizens by statute, Act of August 4, 1937, Sec. 1, 50 Stat. 558, codified at INA:
TITLE 8 > CHAPTER 12 > SUBCHAPTER III > Part I > § 1403
§ 1403. Persons born in the Canal Zone or Republic of Panama on or after February 26, 1904
303(a) Any person born in the Canal Zone on or after February 26, 1904, and whether before or after the effective date of this chapter, whose father or mother or both at the time of the birth of such person was or is a citizen of the United States, is declared to be a citizen of the United States.
303(b) Any person born in the Republic of Panama on or after February 26, 1904, and whether before or after the effective date of this chapter, whose father or mother or both at the time of the birth of such person was or is a citizen of the United States employed by the Government of the United States or by the Panama Railroad Company, or its successor in title, is declared to be a citizen of the United States.
We also know for fact that McCain’s birth certificate was filed with the Panama Railroad Company. If the natural born citizen were to apply, McCain’s birth would have been directly recorded with the permanent resident state of his parents at the time he was born.
As McCain said, judges have to faithfully apply the law that is already in place. Policies and personal choices are not to be legislated from the bench, therefore my conclusion of McCain’s ineligibility to be President stands as reported.
Well documented in Part II of my series ‘The Congressional Natural Born Citizen”, McCain had known of this problem decades before the 2008 election. There were numerous attempts to amend Article II as well as change the INA codified laws. They ALL failed and for good reason. Those in Congress, who held the gavel at the time, knew of the potential threat to our national security if the qualifications for President & Commander in Chief were open to those with dual citizenship.
As much as I sympathize with those who admire McCain for his service to our country (I am one of them), that admiration CAN NOT usurp the law. By trying to do so puts those people in the same corrupt circle of thinkers who pick & choose law at will for their personal benefit.
McCain has brought dishonor to himself by his own volition. It was his choice not ours and he will have to live with it every day for the rest of his life. He will also have to live with the irreparable harm that resulted from his willingness to skirt the law for personal political power which is in complete conflict of the opening quote of this article.
Leo weighs in regarding a request I had made to him regarding this issue. This response pertains to the UIPA requests that have been sent to Hawaii and Hawaii’s responses thus far:
[ed. … I will post a report next week which makes the truth clear and which establishes that an AG Opinion was rendered and is now being kept secret by the AG – and his office has personally informed me that they are invoking attorney client privilege thereto. The general public is now being guided away from paying attention to that AG opinion because the opinion must be disclosed by law. And if they can make the public lose focus then they might be able to keep the report hidden. If the public makes enough noise and does not lose focus on the AG report, then it is VERY hard for the AG to not cough it up. So, if you all want to see the AG opinion then don’t fall for the Seussian hooplah telling you that it does not exist. It does exist.]
Constitutionally Speaking 
Let’s look at this full section from Vattel:
§ 217. Children born in the armies of the state.
For the same reasons also, children born out of the country, in the armies of the state, or in the house of its minister at a foreign court, are reputed born in the country; for a citizen who is absent with his family, on the service of the state, but still dependent on it, and subject to its jurisdiction, cannot be considered as having quitted its territory.
First, remember that this is a translation from the 18th century French, written in the English language style of the 18th century. Not really any obscure legal terminology. This is now the 21st century. Today we’d be speaking of military children (dependents) or children of members of the embassy or consulate. So, let’s consider the phrase, “are reputed born in the country.” I would ‘translate’ this to read, “are considered to have been born in the country.”
Remember during your high school years, reading and trying to understand the works of Shakespeare, which were written late 16th/early 17th centuries. Always remember the context of the subject matter.
Leon Brozyna
CW2, USA (Ret)
[patlin: I would agree, however there is the fact of law. There was a reason that Congress passed 1403, subsections 303a & 303b that pertain to Panama & the Canal Zone. Maybe you could help & research the Congressional records from that time and the testimony & floor debates pertaining to it and report back. Maybe it had something to do with the treaty/agreement with Panama.
Also, did you read parts 1 & 2 of my series? Congress has tried to change the requirements for decades and have failed every time for good reason. They constantly tried to loosen the law to allow those with dual citizenship which they knew was in complete contradiction of the intent of the Framers to keep foreign influences & intrigues from infiltrating the highest office of the land. The part of McCaskill’s original bill S. 2678 that only required one parent to be a citizen would have kept that bill from moving forward & Obama knew it, so he swooped in to save his hyde and brought in his personal constitutional advisor, who was also on his campaign payroll so to speak, to white wash his ineligibility with the English common law crap that 14th amendment citizen=natural born citizen.
This could also be something that you could work on with your Reps. Bring Vattel’s sections 212-217 to them and see what happens. Until then, the law is the law and McCain knew it & he allowed Congress to usurp it for his own personal political gain and in doing so he aided in the thing the founding fathers dreaded the most, allowing someone with foreign influences & intrigues to gain access to the White House & become Commander in Chief.
Leon, God Bless you for your service. We will forever be indebted to those who fight for our freedoms.]