Understanding Bush v. Gore: Historic U.S. Supreme Court Decision, Study notes of Law

Download Understanding Bush v. Gore: Historic U.S. Supreme Court Decision and more Study notes Law in PDF only on Docsity! National High School Civics Standard 18: Understands the role and importance of law in the American constitutional system and issues regarding the judicial protection of individual rights. (4) Knows historical and contemporary illustrations of the idea of equal protection of the laws for all persons (e.g., the Fourteenth Amendment . . . ). National High School Civics Standard 25: Understands issues regarding personal, political, and economic rights. (1) Understands the importance to individuals and to society of . . . the right to . . . equal protection of the law. California History-Social Science Content Standard 12.5: Students summarize landmark U.S . Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution and its amendments. (1) Understand the changing interpreta- tions of the Bill of Rights over time, including interpre- tations of . . . the due process and equal-protection-of- the-law clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Preparation Standards AddressedObjectives Overview Students will be able to: • Explain why Gore demanded a recount in Florida. • Explain the two lawsuits brought following the election and what the courts decided. • Express a reasoned opinion on which of the published opinions in Bush v. Gore is the most reasonable. • Apply the reasoning in the court’s opinion in Bush v. Gore to hypothetical election cases. Reading in the student text: “Bush v. Gore (2000),” pp. 85–89 Activity in the student text: “Applying Bush v. Gore,” pp. 89–90 This lesson looks at Bush v. Gore, the U.S. Supreme Court case that decided the 2000 election. First, students read about and discuss the Supreme Court case of Bush v. Gore. Then in small groups, students role play Supreme Court justices and apply Bush v. Gore to hypothetical election cases. Bush v. Gore (2000) Landmarks: Historic U.S. Supreme Court Decisions, Teacher’s Guide71 Vocabulary Below are vocabulary words from this lesson. Their pronunciations and definitions can be found in the Glossary, which begins on page 91 of the student text. equal protection oral agrument per curiam precedent reverse statute writ of certiorari Procedure I. Focus Discussion A. Hold a brief discussion on the 2000 election by asking students: • Who were the candidates in the 2000 election? The main candidates were Democrat Al Gore (the vice president), Republican George W. Bush (the Texas governor), and the Green Party’s Ralph Nader. • Which candidate got the most votes? Gore. His popular vote total was more than 500,000 votes greater than Bush’s. • Why then did Gore not win? He did not win the Electoral College. Bush got more electoral votes. • How does the Electoral College work? Each state has the same number of electors as it has members in the House of Representatives and the Senate. In most states, the winner of the popular vote wins all of that state’s electors. B. Tell students that the Supreme Court played a major role in determining the winner of the Electoral College in the 2000 election. II. Reading and Discussion—Bush v. Gore (2000) A. Ask students to read “Bush v. Gore (2000),” pages 85–89. Ask them to look for: • The two lawsuits brought following the election and what the courts decided. • The reasoning of all the opinions in Bush v. Gore. B. When students finish reading, hold a discussion using the questions on page 89. 1. In the 2000 election, what did the first count of Florida’s votes show? On what basis did Al Gore demand a recount? What did the machine recount show? The first count of Florida’s votes showed that Bush had received 2,909,135 votes and Gore had received 2,907,351 votes. Gore demanded a recount under Florida law that provides for a recount if the election is decided by less than one-half percent of the votes cast. The machine recount narrowed Bush’s lead to 327 votes. 2. What happened when Gore demanded a manual recount? Do you think a hand recount is more accurate than a machine recount? Explain. When Gore demanded a manual recount, Bush sued in federal district court to block it. His request was denied, but Florida’s secretary of state declared that she would enforce the November 14 deadline for counties to submit their vote totals, and she would not accept late recounts from counties in Florida. Landmarks: Historic U.S. Supreme Court Decisions, Teacher’s Guide 72 The 2000 election was one of the closest in U.S. history. Democrat Al Gore won the popular vote, but Republican George W. Bush eventually won the electoral vote. Bush v. Gore (2000) The Contested Election of 2000 Landmarks: Historic U.S. Supreme Court Decisions85 On December 12, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time in American history essentially decided a presidential election with its ruling in Bush v. Gore. The day after the Supreme Court’s ruling, candidate Al Gore conceded defeat to George W. Bush. The Events Leading Up to Bush v. Gore The presidential election of Tuesday, November 7, 2000, was one of the closest in U.S. history. By early Wednesday morning, it was clear that the Democratic candidate, Vice President Al Gore, had won the national popular vote, but the outcome of the electoral vote was uncertain. The presidency turned on Florida and its 25 electoral votes. Early on election night, the networks called Gore the winner in Florida, only to retract their prediction later in the evening. In the early hours of Wednesday, November 8, the networks declared Bush the winner of Florida and the presidency, only to recant that a short time later and to conclude that the outcome in Florida, and thus of the national election, was too close to call. On November 8, the Florida Division of Elections reported that Bush had received 2,909,135 votes and Gore had received 2,907,351 votes. Florida law provides for a recount of votes if the election is decided by less than because it completely negated the statute that expressly provided for them. Bush appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Friday, November 24, the day after Thanksgiving, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari and scheduled oral argument for the following Friday, December 1. In an unprecedented order, the court permitted the broadcasting of the oral argument immediately after it was finished. A few days later, in Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Bd., the U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to the Florida Supreme Court for clari- fication of its earlier decision. Meanwhile, on Sunday, November 26, some coun- ties asked for additional time to complete their counting. The secretary of state refused all requests for extensions. On Sunday night, November 26, the Florida Elections Canvassing Commission certified the election results. Bush was determined to be the winner of Florida by 537 votes and thus the winner of Florida’s 25 electoral votes. On Monday, November 27, Gore filed suit in Florida under the Florida law on contesting elec- tion results. This provision, Section 102.168(3) (c), provides that “[r]eceipt of a number of illegal votes or rejection of a number of legal votes suf- ficient to change or place in doubt the result of the election” shall be grounds for a contest. The statute authorizes a court finding successful grounds for a contest to “provide any relief appropriate under such circumstances.” On Saturday and Sunday, December 2 and 3, a Florida state trial court held a hearing on whether Gore had met the statutory requirements for a successful contest. On Monday, December 4, the Florida trial court ruled against Gore on the grounds that Gore failed to prove a “reason- able probability” that the election would have turned out differently if not for problems in counting ballots. The Florida Supreme Court granted review and scheduled oral arguments for Thursday, December 6. On Friday afternoon, December 7, the Florida Supreme Court, by a 4 to 3 decision, one-half of a percent of the votes cast. Because the difference in votes between the two candidates was less than one-half of a percent, Gore immediately asked for a machine recount of the tally of votes in four counties: Volusia, Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade. Florida law set November 14 as the deadline for county vote totals. On November 9, Florida’s Secretary of State Katherine Harris declined to extend this deadline. By this point, the machine recount had narrowed Bush’s lead to a mere 327 votes. Upon learning of the close margin between him and Bush, Gore petitioned and received permis- sion to have a hand recount in the four counties in question. On Saturday, November 9, Bush sued in federal district court to block the manual recount, but his request was denied. Secretary of State Harris, however, declared that November 14 was the deadline for counties to submit their vote totals and that she would not accept late recounts. She said that the Florida election statute required counties to report their votes within one week of the election. A suit was brought against Harris in Florida court to compel her to accept the time for the reporting of the results. On Friday, November 17, the Florida state trial court ruled in favor of Harris. On Monday, November 20, the Florida Supreme Court held a nationally televised hear- ing. On Tuesday night, November 21, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously reversed the trial court and ordered that the secretary of state accept hand recounts from the four counties if they were completed by 5 p.m., Sunday, November 26, or Monday morning, if the secre- tary of state was not open for business on Sunday afternoon. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that Florida’s secretary of state abused her discretion in refus- ing to extend the deadline for certifying elections to provide the needed time for the recounts. To carry out the law allowing recounts, the court concluded that there must be time for doing the recount. The court said that the secretary of state’s refusal to accept hand recounts was wrong Landmarks: Historic U.S. Supreme Court Decisions 86 On Monday, December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court held oral arguments. Again, they were broadcast immediately after their completion. On Tuesday night, December 12, at approximate- ly 10 p.m., Eastern time, the court released its opinion in Bush v. Gore. The Decision In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that counting the uncounted ballots without standards denies equal protection and that counting could not continue because Florida wished to choose its electors by the December 12 “safe harbor” date set by federal law. The per curiam opinion was joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O’Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas. The court said that the central problem was that the Florida Supreme Court ordered counting the uncounted ballots, but failed to prescribe stan- dards. The per curiam opinion stated: “The prob- lem inheres in absence of specific standards to ensure its equal application. The formulation of uniform rules to determine intent based on these recurring circumstances is practicable and, we conclude, necessary.” The court said that this results in similar ballots being treated differently. reversed the trial court. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the trial court had used the wrong standard in insisting that Gore demon- strate a “reasonable probability” that the election would have been decided differently. The Florida Supreme Court said that the statute requires only a showing of “[r]eceipt of a number of illegal votes or rejection of a number of legal votes suf- ficient to change or place in doubt the result of the election.” The Florida Supreme Court ordered a counting of all of the uncounted votes in Florida. Just hours after the Florida Supreme Court’s decision, on Friday night, December 8, a Florida trial court judge ordered that the counting of the uncounted votes commence the next morning and that it be completed by Sunday afternoon, December 9, at 2 p.m. The judge said that he would resolve any disputes. On Saturday morning, counting commenced as ordered. At the same time, Bush asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the counting and grant certiorari in the case. In the early afternoon on Saturday, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5 to 4 rul- ing, halted the counting of the votes in Florida pending its decision. 2000 Presidential Election Results Landmarks: Historic U.S. Supreme Court Decisions87