The state Supreme Court has denied a request from Internet author Andy Martin to expedite a hearing on his lawsuit to get a copy of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's birth certificate.

Meanwhile, Martin is continuing to hammer away at the authenticity of the Democratic presidential candidate's certificate, saying on his Web site that he is looking forward to a Nov. 7 court hearing on the matter here.

The New York-based Martin, who describes himself as the executive director of the Stop Obama Coalition, sued Gov. Linda Lingle and other state officials Oct. 17 in state Circuit Court in hopes of getting a certified copy of Obama's 1961 birth certificate.

Officials at the state Department of Health had denied Martin's request for a copy, saying Martin was not a relative of Obama and that privacy issues prevented disclosure of a birth certificate to nonrelatives.

Circuit Judge Bert Ayabe scheduled a hearing on the matter for Nov. 7, three days after the general election.

Martin, who is not a lawyer, though he has a law degree, and who is representing himself on the Obama birth certificate issue, then filed for a "writ of mandamus" with the Hawai'i Supreme Court, saying the issue was of such importance that the state's highest court should grant an emergency hearing to considered the issue immediately.

The Supreme Court on Oct. 22, denied Martin's application for the writ saying issuance of a vital statistics record by the state Department of Health is not mandatory, "but involves the exercise of discretion and judgement."

The lower court did not err in scheduling a hearing on the matter for Nov. 7, the Supreme Court said in rejecting Martin's application for the writ.

Martin's blogs on Monday and Tuesday of this week centered on the birth certificate issue.

Hawai'i officials say a person requesting a vital statistics record must have a "tangible relationship" with the person whose records are being sought, but state law requires a "tangible interest" in obtaining such records, Martin contends.

Martin predicted in a recent blog that the Oct. 7 hearing "will be a doozy."

Obama in March posted a copy of his birth certificate on his Web site, www.fightthesmears.com/articles/5/birthcertificate, which shows that he was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu.