Before you get TOO excited william.. maybe you should the DISSENTING OPINION of the FLSC Chief Justice, Charles Wells:
dailynews.yahoo.com
Wells: Ruling Propels 'Crisis'
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court (news - web sites) on Friday said the court's decision to order presidential election recounts ``propels the country into an unprecedented and unnecessary constitutional crisis.''
Chief Justice Charles Wells wrote in a dissenting opinion that by ordering the recount the four justices who did so created ``imponderable problems...
``I have to conclude that there is a real and present likelihood that this constitutional crisis will do substantial damage to our country, our state, and to this court as an institution,'' Wells said.
The court's 4-3 decision reversed a trial judge's ruling that Al Gore (news - web sites) was not entitled to the hand recounts with which he sought to reverse the razor-thin lead by which George W. Bush (news - web sites) was certified the winner of the presidential race in Florida. The state's 25 electoral votes will settle the contest for the White House.
Wells said the majority decision had ``no foundation in the law of Florida'' as it existed on Nov. 7, when the election was held, or indeed, until the Supreme Court ruled. He had sharply questioned the rival lawyers on that point when the case was argued before the court on Thursday.
Wells, 61, became chief justice in July, his turn in a position that rotates among the justices. He was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 1994 by Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles.
Some other quotes:
CHIEF JUSTICE WELLS' DISSENT
* Chief Justice Wells: "I could not more strongly disagree with their decision to reverse the trial court and prolong this judicial process. I also believe that the majority's decision cannot withstand the scrutiny which will certainly immediately follow under the United States Constitution. My succinct conclusion is that 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 November 7, 2000, or at any time until the issuance of this opinion." (p. 41 Dissenting Opinion of Chief Justice Wells)
* Wells: "Under our law, of course, a decision of a trial court reaching a correct result will be affirmed if it is supportable under any theory, even if an appellate court disagrees with the trial court's reasoning. Dade County School Bd. V. Radio Station WQBA, 731 So. 2d 638, 644-645
* Wells: "Directing the trial court to conduct a manual recount of the ballots violates article II, section 1, clause 2 of the United States Constitution, in that neither this Court nor the circuit court has the authority to create the standards by which it will count the undervoted ballots. (p. 54)
* Wells: "A continuing problem with these manual recounts is their reliability. It only stands to reason that many times a reading of a ballot by a human will be subjective, and the intent gleaned from that ballot is only in the mind of the beholder. This subjective counting is only compounded where no standards exist, or, as in this statewide contest, where there are no statewide standards for determining voter intent by the various canvassing boards, individual judges, or multiple unknown counters who will eventually count these ballot. I must regrettably conclude that the majority ignores the magnitude of its decision.
* Wells: "To me, it is inescapable that there is no practical way for the contest to continue for the good of this country and state." (p. 58) |
