WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to block the fine of a "birther" movement leader who refuses to recognize President Obama was born in the United States.
Orly Taitz, born in the old Soviet Union, is a lawyer and dentist in Orange County, Calif., who claims Obama was born in Kenya, the homeland of his father, despite documents from a Hawaiian hospital that show he was born in that state.
Taitz was fined $20,000 by U.S. District Judge Clay Land in Columbus, Ga., for abuse of the judicial process. The lawyer was trying to block the deployment of her client, an Army physician, to Iraq, saying since Obama purportedly was not born in the United States, he was serving as president illegally.
When Land refused to issue a restraining order, Taitz accused him of treason, SCOTUSBLUG.com reported, and continued to file motion after motion, even after being warned not to do so.
A federal appeals court refused to block the penalty, and Land's court began proceedings to put a lien on her property.
In asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block the penalty, Taitz called it a "political hit" designed to protect Obama. Her request first went to Justice Clarence Thomas, who refused, then to Justice Samuel Alito, who referred the request to the full court.
The full Supreme Court rejected her request Monday in a one-line order without comment.
