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The over whether Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is continues. The fact that Cruz was born on Canadian soil to an American mother has constitutional legal scholars at odds over for the nation's top office.Now a Houston attorney has filed a suit further questioning Cruz鈥檚 eligibility and asking the Supreme Court to define the term, "natural-born citizen."
Attorney Newton Schwartz says he felt compelled to file the suit because nobody else did. He鈥檚 now the lead plaintiff in Schwartz v. Cruz. Was he surprised no one else had filed yet?
鈥淪urprised is an understatement,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 shocked."
Time is running out on getting to the bottom of the matter, Schwartz says. He points to the Iowa caucuses that start February 1, then the New Hampshire primaries after that. There鈥檚 also the March 1 Texas and southern state ballots.
鈥淭here's not gonna be time to determine [Cruz鈥檚 eligibility],鈥� Schwartz says. 鈥淭his is the only method that could determine it by then and it's going to be very difficult to get it all through the courts without the cooperation of Sen. Cruz 鈥� who could get it done or he could stall it and keep it in a court here for months.鈥�
The Constitution limits the presidency to a "natural-born citizen." Schwartz鈥檚 lawsuit isn鈥檛 questioning the citizenship of Cruz 鈥� he is legally a citizen. Schwartz says there鈥檚 a big distinction between the two. His lawsuit is asking the court to come up with a legally agreed upon interpretation of what a 鈥渘atural-born citizen鈥� is.
As far as this lawsuit鈥檚 potential to settle the matter?
"There are people that may not wanna agree with the decision,鈥� Schwartz says. 鈥淸But it] would be the law of the land, just like Roe v. Wade is currently the law of the land. Just like same-sex marriage, from this year, is law of the land.... It's not a popularity contest."
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