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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (8897)	12/13/2000 9:38:08 PM
From: Wren	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10042

Alan Dershowitz <<point was that the Supreme Court did not make an ideological decision; it was based on the names of the plantiff and defendant.>> AD has shown over and over where he stands and how much he loves publicity. I don't place much faith in any thing he says.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (8897)	12/14/2000 4:09:53 AM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10042

Alan Dershowitz just pointed out that the five members of the majority on the USSC normally don't see any equal protections violations when convicted criminals are executed following widely differing standards in due process, even after you show that minorities do not receive equal treatment. His point was that the Supreme Court did not make an ideological decision; it was based on the names of the plantiff and defendant. Nadine, here is an article that supports AD's view, in part anyway. High Court Ruling May Taint Court By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court ruling in Bush v. Gore may be remembered by history as the case that changed the place of the court in modern political life. The court's conservative majority led the 5-4 ruling to stop presidential vote recounts, almost certainly marking the end of the long post-election court battle - and with it Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites)'s hopes for the White House. The justices split along the same ideological gulf that marked its vote to stop recounts on Saturday, and will reinforce the suspicion that the court was meddling in politics, several legal scholars said. ``This really does not put the court in a good light. It's made them look obstructionist,'' said Yale law professor Jack Balkin. ``It leaves them with less legitimacy than they had before.'' At one time or another, the court has considered just about every controversial issue in American life - from slavery and suffrage through segregation, Watergate, abortion, prayer in schools and even Paula Jones. Never before, however, has the court been a central instrument in choosing a president. ``To be divided closely on the one instance in American history where the Supreme Court chooses the president rather than the other way around is not likely to sit well over time, either with the American people or with historians,'' said Laurence Tribe, a Gore lawyer and longtime court scholar. Georgetown University constitutional law professor Richard Lazarus said it is too soon to tell whether the case will do lasting harm to the court's reputation for impartiality, but he foresees some trouble. ``By ultimately deciding the election by a 5-4 vote, there is the possibility of the public reacting quite adversely,'' Lazarus said. The unsigned majority opinion acknowledges the court is in an awkward position as it delves into an election. ``When contending parties invoke the process of the courts ... it becomes our unsought responsibility to resolve the federal and constitutional issues the judicial system has been forced to confront,'' the justices wrote. The five justices who sided with George W. Bush (news - web sites) were named to the court by Republican presidents, while the dissenters include two moderates named to the court by Republican presidents and two named by President Clinton (news - web sites). The court had already compromised its nonpartisan reputation by agreeing to hear disputes over the election twice - both times at Bush's request, scholars said. The court found a way to paper over obvious ideological differences the first time, issuing an unanimous ruling that sent the issue back to the Florida courts for clarification. Most court scholars read that move as recognition from the justices that the court risked lasting damage if its ruling on that case appeared as baldly partisan as the justices' questions indicated it might be. The justices stunned nearly everyone, including many in the campaigns themselves, by plunging back into the election morass just days later, and with ideological colors flying. The 5-4 vote Saturday to suspend the hand counts that might have meant Gore's resurrection was accompanied by extraordinary written explanations from both wings. Tuesday's decision contained overlapping opinions that generally used muted language, with the notable exception of Justice John Paul Stevens. Stevens pointed a stern finger at his colleagues for sullying the court. ``Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the law.'' Americans of all political stripe tell pollsters they basically trust the court to be impartial. On Sunday night, after a month of election-related litigation, The Washington Post and ABC News polled people about their faith in the court system generally to deal with political cases. Sixty-three percent said they had less confidence than before the election, while 20 percent said they had more confidence. dailynews.yahoo.com