Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed on Inauguration Day claiming that Obama is not constitutionally eligible to be president because he is not a “natural-born citizen” of the United States.
Drake, a former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, claims damages as the vice presidential candidate of the American Independent Party in the 2008 election. He appeared on the California state ballot as the running mate of the party’s presidential nominee, Alan Keyes.
The suit is one of a couple of dozen filed since last fall’s election challenging the constitutional legitimacy of the Obama presidency. Most have been dismissed on technicalities, but a Los Angeles Times blog reports that U.S. District Judge David Carter allowed plaintiffs to fix their paperwork instead of throwing it out of court.
