On Tuesday, a unanimous three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that Americans born in Jerusalem cannot put “Israel” as place of birth on their birth certificates. Judge Karen Henderson wrote that the president “exclusively holds the power to determine whether to recognize a foreign sovereign,” and that the president had not recognized Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. Congress passed a law in 2002 dictating that Americans living in Jerusalem could label their children’s birthplace “Israel,” but the State Department has refused to enforce that law for over a decade.
"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual." Thomas Jefferson
"If people can’t trust not only the executive branch but also don’t trust Congress, and don’t trust federal judges, to make sure that we’re abiding by the Constitution with due process and rule of law, then we’re going to have some problems here." - Barack Obama, June 7, 2013