Federal lawsuit questions Cruz's eligibility for president

The Cruz birther controversy explained It seems like only yesterday that skeptics of Barack Obama's birth in Hawaii rushed to the Supreme Court to try to block the son of an American mother and Kenyan father from taking office as president. Seven years later, Canadian-born Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is facing similar scrutiny.

Here are some answers to questions about the constitutional requirements to be president, and Cruz's situation: less The Cruz birther controversy explained It seems like only yesterday that skeptics of Barack Obama's birth in Hawaii rushed to the Supreme Court to try to block the son of an American mother and Kenyan father ... more Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close Federal lawsuit questions Cruz's eligibility for president 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's eligibility for U.S. President could be decided by a federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Houston.

Veteran Houston attorney Newton Schwartz wants the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether Cruz's Canadian birth to an American-born mother and a Cuban father disqualifies him from the nation's highest office. Cruz is seeking the Republican nomination for president.

The U.S. Constitution stipulates that the president must be a "natural born citizen." Now, a court may have to decide what that means.

"It's very simple, but it's amazing that no one has taken it to the Supreme Court," said Schwartz, who started his legal career as a federal prosecutor in Houston in 1955.

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Issues over Cruz's birthplace and citizenship have flared up in recent weeks, especially as Republican rival Donald Trump persistently has raised the eligibility question. It could have a major impact on the Cruz campaign, which ranks second, behind Trump, in most major polls.

In the Republican presidential debate Thursday night, Trump said that Cruz likely would face a lawsuit over his eligibility if he did not settle the issue himself.

A Reuters poll, reported Friday, found that a quarter of Republicans think Cruz's birthplace disqualifies him from the presidency. Cruz has said that his mother's U.S. citizenship makes him a natural born citizen, comparing himself to children of military personnel deployed overseas. A Cruz campaign spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit Friday.

BACKGROUND: The Ted Cruz citizenship controversy explained

Now, the question will go before a judge. Schwartz said he expects the case to go to the Supreme Court, given the deeply constitutional nature of the question.

Peter Linzer, professor of constitutional law at the University of Houston, predicted the case would be dismissed quickly because "no judge really wants to have to decide this case."

Various legal scholars have weighed in on the public debate, arguing for both sides in recent weeks.

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Schwartz's 28-page lawsuit said, "It is undisputed, by all legal scholars, there is no U.S. Supreme Court decision or precedent: determinative of the following agreed facts of this case and controversy. 'Natural born citizen' has never been defined."

Registered to vote since 1948, Schwartz said he has voted Democratic in presidential elections since he cast a ballot for Richard Nixon in 1968.

"No one put me up to this," he said.

He said he filed the case on behalf of the American people to avoid a messy situation in which Cruz is deemed ineligible only after winning the Republican nomination or the presidency.

Other experts dismissed the merit of the case.

"I'm no fan of Ted Cruz, but my view is that he's a natural born citizen," Linzer said. "If you're born to a U.S. citizen abroad, there seems to be a clear view that that is good enough."

He noted that the birthplace issue has been repeatedly raised in presidential races, always with the conclusion that children of American-born U.S. citizens are eligible for the Oval Office.

For example, Arizona senator Barry Goldwater was allowed to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 1964, even though he was born in Arizona in 1909, three years before the territory became a U.S. state.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr., son of the American president, was also considered a serious presidential contender, though he never sought the nomination. He was born during a family vacation in Canada.

George Romney, father of Mitt Romney, sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 despite his birth to American parents at a Mormon community in Mexico.

Sen. John McCain also faced questions during his 2008 presidential bid over his birth at the U.S.-controlled territory of the Panama Canal.

Mark Jones, a fellow in political science at Rice University's Baker Institute of Public Policy, who also thought Cruz was a natural born citizen, said the question likely would continue to dog the Cruz campaign like it did for President Barack Obama throughout his two campaigns and his entire presidency.

Obama was born in Hawaii, but some opponents have claimed he was born in Kenya to an American-born mother.