martin's lawsuit sought to order the state to release a copy of sen. obama's long-form birth certificate. the short-form birth certificate that the obama campaign posted online states his place of birth as honolulu, hawaii. martin's lawsuit claimed that because martin "strives for factual accuracy and attempts to conduct thorough research", he should have a copy of obama's birth certificate from the state and not a certificate "posted on a web site". under hawaii law, only the person whom the record is concerned with, or a spouse, parents, descendant or someone with a common ancestor, or someone acting on behalf of such a person can obtain a copy of a vital record.