Obama Citizenship

Kerchner v. Obama: Defendants Make Additional Request for More Time to Respond

By Phil

Mario Apuzzo, attorney for Plaintiffs in Kerchner v. Obama, made note of the Defendant’s second request for a time extension in this case:

Motion to Extend Time to Answer, Move, or Otherwise Respond & Declaration of Counsel has been filed by the defendants. The defendants have already had over two months to answer, move, or otherwise respond. As of the current deadline of May 5th they will have had 75 days from the time they were served to respond. In our opinion, that is an adequate amount of time to answer or move or other wise respond. An objection will be filed to this second request by the defendants for a further extension of time.

As Mr. Apuzzo noted on April 13, the government is always given 60 days by which to respond to any complaint brought against it. On that same date, the federal government requested an additional 15 days by which to respond, making the deadline May 5, 2009 for any motions on their part. Subsequently, per paragraph 10 of the motion, the Defendants have requested an additional 20 days to respond, making the would-be deadline June 1, 2009.

Of the reasons for the time extension request, Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Pascal mentions that Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have both requested the DOJ to represent them in this matter. Also, per paragraph 8, Attorney Pascal mentions:

“I was unaware that I could move for an extension of time to answer, move, or otherwise respond to the complaint pending the representation decision for those Defendants”

and that:

“The Department is still processing that request and determining which Congressional Defendants it will represent.”

She also notes in paragraph 11:

“The delay in filing a response in this case would in no way prejudice the Plaintiffs, but would provide a fair opportunity for the Department to respond appropriately to the allegations in the Complaint…”

A footnote to this paragraph states:

“The Second Amended Complaint is extensive, as it is comprised of 12 counts, with 347 paragraphs and 43 single-spacedendnotes of allegations, and a 30-paragraph prayer for relief.”

Kerchner et al v Obama et al - Motion to Extend Time & Declaration of Counsel - Docs 17-1 & 17-2

Update: Mr. Apuzzo, in further comments about this motion, echoed a number of points I raised above, including the following:

Whether or not the President of the United States is eligible for the Office he currently occupies is of utmost national importance. Every passing day Mr. Obama takes executive action that significantly impacts on the lives of Americans. The USA and Obama have already been granted one extension to answer to May 5, 2009. They have therefore been given 77 days to answer. This is enough time for them to answer. With an extension to June 21, 2009, USA and Obama are asking for 124 days and the Congressional defendants are asking for 117 days to answer. Court rules only allow them 60 days. Such delay is not in the national interest and not acceptable. As to the Congressional defendants, a twenty-day extension for them to answer is reasonable, making their answer due by May 18, 2009. Given the national importance of the issues, an extension for all defendants to answer by June 21, 2009 is not acceptable.

A current listing of eligibility lawsuits and common law grand jury updates can be found here.

-Phil

Full post as published by The Right Side of Life on April 28, 2009 (boomark / email).