By Mark H. Levine, Esq.
Q:
I'm not a lawyer and I don't understand the recent Supreme Court decision in
Bush v. Gore. Can you explain it to
me?
A:
Sure. I'm a lawyer.
I read it. It says
Bush wins, even if Gore got the most votes.
Q:
But wait a second. The US Supreme
Court has to give a reason, right?
A:
Right.
Q:
So Bush wins because hand-counts are illegal?
A:
Oh no. Six of the justices
(two-thirds majority) believed the hand-counts were legal and should be done.
Q:
Oh. So the justices did not
believe that the hand-counts would find any legal ballots?
A:
Nope. The five conservative
justices clearly held (and all nine justices agreed)
"that punch card balloting machines can produce an unfortunate number of
ballots which are not punched in a clean,
complete way by the voter." So
there are legal votes that should be counted but can't be.
Q:
Oh. Does this have something to do with states' rights?
Don't conservatives love that?
A:
Generally yes. These five
justices have held that the federal government has no business
telling a sovereign state university it can't steal trade secrets just because
such stealing
is prohibited by law. Nor does the
federal government have any business telling a state that
it should bar guns in schools. Nor
can the federal government use the equal protection clause to
force states to take measures to stop violence against women.
Q:
Is there an exception in this case?
A:
Yes, the Gore exception. States
have no rights to have their own state elections when it can
result in Gore being elected President. This
decision is limited to only this situation.
Q:
C'mon. The Supremes didn't really
say that. You're exaggerating.
A:
Nope. They held "Our
consideration is limited to the present circumstances, or the problem of
equal protection in election processes generally presents many
complexities."
Q:
What complexities?
A:
They don't say.
Q:
I'll bet I know the reason. I heard
Jim Baker say this. The votes can't
be counted because the
Florida Supreme Court "changed the rules of the election after it was
held." Right?
A:
Dead wrong. The US Supreme Court.