U.S. Supreme Court Ruling (12/13/00)
The U.S. Supreme Court's 7-2 ruling has reversed the Florida Supreme Court ruling that ordered manual recounts of disputed ballots. Seven justices said they saw constitutional problems with the state court's recount order. Five of the Justices agreed that the recount problems could not be remedied in the time remaining. The decision said the recounts could not resume "without substantial additional work." One requirement is a statewide standard of what was a legal vote, guaranteeing equal protection for voters throughout the state.Shortly after the decision was announced, D.N.C. Chairman Ed Rendell and Gore lawyer Laurence Tribe called for Gore to concede.
Excerpts from the Supreme Court opinion:
On the right to vote:
"The right to vote is protected by more than the initial allocation of the franchise. Equal protection applies as well to the manner of its exercise. Having once granted the right to vote on equal terms, the State may not, by later arbitrary and disparate treatment, value one person's vote over that of another."
On the role of courts in presidential election matters:
"None are more conscious of the vital limits on judicial authority than are the members of this Court, and none stand more in admiration of the Constitution's design to leave the selection of the President to the People, through their legislatures, and to the political sphere. When contending parties invoke the process of the courts, however, it becomes our unsought responsibility to resolve the federal and constitutional issues the judicial system has been forced to confront."
On the rule of law: (From dissent of Justice Stevens, joined by Justices Breyer and Ginsburg)
"Time will one day heal the wound to that confidence that will be inflicted by today's decision. One thing however is certain. Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judges as an impartial guardian of the rule of law."
On federalism: (From dissent of Justice Ginsberg, joined by Stevens and in part by Souter and Breyer)
"...The extraordinary setting of this case has obscured the ordinary principle that dictates its proper resolution: Federal courts defer to state high courts' interpretations of their state's own law. This principle reflects the core of federalism on which we all agree."
"... The Chief Justice'ssolicitude for the Florida legislature comes at the expense of the more fundamental solicitude we owe to the legislature's sovereign... Were the other members of this court as mindful as they generally are of our system of dual sovereignty, they would affirm the judgment of the Florida Supreme Court."
On the role of courts in political matters: (From dissent of Justice Breyer, joined in part by Stevens, Ginsburg and Souter)
"Of course, the selection of the President is of fundamental national importance. But that importance is political, not legal. And this Court should resist the temptation unnecessarily to resolve tangential legal disputes, where doing so threatens to determine the outcome of the election."