December 9, 2000

U.S. Supreme Court Stops Illegal Florida Recount
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court granted George W. Bush's request to stop ballot recounts in Florida on Saturday, and agreed to hear the Republican's appeal of a Florida court ruling that had resurrected the campaign of presidential rival Al Gore. By a vote of 5-4, the court agreed to stop counts that began Saturday morning.

Supreme Court Of The United States
Bush vs. Gore
Cornell Law School / U.S. Supreme Court / Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court Decision - Bush vs. Gore
C-SPAN.org
65-Page Ruling in Printable Document File (pdf) format.


U.S. High Court Grants Bush Bid to Stop Recounts
Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A closely divided U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday granted Republican George W. Bush's plea to halt hand recounts of ballots in Florida, votes Democrat Al Gore needs to win the presidency, and said it would hear a Bush challenge to the recounts. The high court in a brief order by a 5-4 vote granted Bush's emergency plea for a stay of the Florida Supreme Court ruling that ordered hand recounts of tens of thousands of ballots in Florida's contested presidential election. The Supreme Court said it scheduled 90 minutes of oral arguments in the case on Monday, Dec. 11. The 5-4 vote split along conservative and liberal lines.

High Court Freezes Florida Count
By Ron Word / The Associated Press
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The U.S. Supreme Court froze a recount of Florida's contested presidential ballots in its tracks Saturday, intervening hours after local officials had slowly begun to put their recount machinery to work. The order was issued in Washington as local election judges in scattered locations around Florida were scrutinizing the first of 45,000 questionable ballots to be reviewed. The 5-4 ruling from the high court also called for oral arguments Monday on the underlying legal issues in the recount case.

Would Gore Win Recount?
By David Lawsky / Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At first glance, the Florida Supreme Court's decision to order a manual recount of thousands of ballots looked like good news for Al Gore, but a fresh analysis of voting data on Saturday showed that the Democrat actually may lose ground to Republican George W. Bush. A recount has never looked good for Gore, according to this group of experts.

Experts See High Court's Ruling Language As Crafty
By Noah Bierman / Palm Beach Post
TALLAHASSEE -- Even legal scholars who agree with the Florida Supreme Court's 4-3 decision to manually recount ballots statewide used words like crafty, clever and radical to describe it. "I think of this as the kamikaze decision of the Florida Supreme Court," said Kim Lane Scheppele, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania invited by Democrats to address the state legislature on Monday. Scheppele said justices -- under pressure from legislators, the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts it overturned -- had to reason carefully to justify statewide recounts because not even the Democrats had asked for them. It is highly unusual for courts to offer a remedy that neither party requests, according to several constitutional scholars.

On Application For Stay - Concurring
Justice Scalia / Supreme Court Of The United States
Halting Florida Vote Recounts

On Application For Stay - Dissenting
Justice Stevens / Supreme Court Of The United States
Halting Florida Vote Recounts

Student Files Misconduct Complaint
Against Judge in Bush-DUI Affair
The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine -- A Chicago law student filed a misconduct complaint against a Portland probate judge linked to the release of information about George W. Bush's 1976 drunken driving arrest in Kennebunkport.

Earlier News...

Bush Presidential Mantle in Doubt
By Ron Fournier / AP Political Writer
WASHINGTON -- In a jolting turnabout, George W. Bush's lead in Florida is suddenly in peril – and his carefully crafted image as the most-likely-to-succeed presidential candidate could fade with each newfound vote for Gore. It's Bush's turn to play defense. The Florida Supreme Court voted 4-3 Friday to order manual recounts across the state to review as many as 45,000 ballots on which there was no vote for president picked up by tabulating machines. The seven justices also added 383 votes to Gore's totals, apparently shaving Bush's 537-vote margin to 154 votes – out of 6 million cast. His lead and chief political advantage in jeopardy, Bush immediately asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the recounts.

Florida Supreme's Chief Justice Pens Scathing Dissent
NewsMax.com
Nobody seemed to appreciate the danger of Friday afternoon's bombshell 4-3 ruling by Florida's Supreme Court more than its own chief justice, Charles Wells. In a scathing excerpt from his minority dissent later cited by Bush spokesman James Baker, Wells wrote: "I believe that the majority's decision cannot withstand the scrutiny which will certainly immediately follow under the United States Constitution. "The majority's decision to return this case to the circuit court for a count of the undervotes from either Miami-Dade County or all counties has no foundation in the law of Florida as it existed on Nov. 7, 2000, or at any time until the issuance of this opinion.

Justice Kennedy Considers Florida Supreme Court Stay
By Dan Frisa / NewsMax.com
Bush campaign lawyers have requested that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy issue a stay of today's Florida Supreme Court ruling, which has thrown the presidential election into chaos. Kennedy has responsibility for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Atlanta, which includes Florida in its jurisdiction. Should this request for a temporary injunction be granted, all counting of ballots in Florida would be halted.

Florida Lawmakers Begin Process of Backing Bush
By Michael Peltier / Reuters
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - Florida's Legislature held a historic special session on Friday that was virtually certain to choose Republican George W. Bush as the winner of the state's decisive Electoral College votes if the disputed U.S. presidential election is still mired in the courts next week. The special session was adjourned at 1 p.m. EST until Monday after both chambers met for less than an hour to send to their respective committees identical resolutions proposing a slate of Republican electors in the event that results of Florida's Nov. 7 presidential balloting were still in limbo. No final resolution from the session will emerge until Wednesday.

Florida Legislature Meets
By Bill Kaczor / The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Florida Legislature embarked Friday on a mission to deliver the presidency to George W. Bush, a role that became more crucial for majority Republicans after Al Gore won a stunning court victory. The importance of the session to Republicans was elevated when the Florida Supreme Court ordered the manual recounts Gore sought in the state's contested presidential election. "They've opened a Pandora's box to going into a special session and taking action which was pretty much something that many of us were reluctant to do," said Republican Sen. Anna Cowin.

Republican Voters Go to High Court on Recounts
By James Vicini / Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three Republican voters from Florida asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to quickly hear their constitutional challenge to the hand-counted ballots that Democrat Al Gore needs to overcome Republican George W. Bush's razor-thin lead in the state and to win the White House. They appealed a ruling just two days ago by a U.S. appeals court in Atlanta that rejected their request as well as a separate request by Bush's lawyers for an injunction to halt manual vote recounts in Florida.

Former Judge Took Unethical Swipe at Sauls
By Jack Thompson / NewsMax.com
Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Gerald Kogan this afternoon appeared on the Fox News Channel for the purpose of harming the reputation of Leon County Circuit Judge N. Sanders Sauls, whose ruling on Monday is presently under review by Kogan's former colleagues on the high court.

Cheney Residency Question In Court
By Alan Clendenning / The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The question of whether Dick Cheney is a Wyoming resident, and thus constitutionally qualified to serve as George W. Bush's vice president, is heading to the U.S. Supreme Court. After losing a bid before a federal appeals court to have Cheney declared a Texas resident, lawyers for three Texans said they would file a final appeal with the high court by Monday. The lawsuit cites the 12th Amendment, which bars electors from giving their votes to two residents of their own state.

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