Birthers ask court to revive lawsuit

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PASADENA, Calif., May 3 (UPI) -- A spurned candidate who doubts U.S. President Barack Obama's citizenship argued before a U.S. court in California that Obama should be removed from office.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge sitting in Pasadena, Calif., gave Buena Park minister Wiley Drake and Orly Taitz, a leading attorney in the so-called birther movement, the opportunity to ask for reinstatement of their case dismissed by a federal judge two years ago, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Taitz's client, Alan Keyes, was the American Independent Party's candidate for president in 2008. Drake, who once urged parishioners to pray for Obama's death, was the party's vice presidential candidate. Keyes drew less than 0.0004 percent of the popular vote.

Despite the release last week of Obama's official long-form birth certificate indicating he was born in Honolulu, members of the birther movement turned out at the Pasadena federal courthouse, showing documents they maintain prove Obama has been covering up his foreign origins.

"Analysis shows it is not a true and correct image of his birth certificate but a creative computer image," Taitz told the court, alleging the Obama administration pressured the legal system to suppress the truth.

A ruling isn't likely for weeks, the Times said.

The initial lawsuit filed on the day Obama was inaugurated in 2009 was dismissed by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who ruled federal courts weren't the proper forum.

On Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney David DeJute told the court the Constitution invested the right to review political matters, such as impeachment, with Congress.