Bush v Gore - Research Paper Example

Deborah Rodriguez-Bitler Christopher Schafer M.A. American Government 5 dec Bush V. GoreThe resolution of the 2000 presidential election event had made it clear that how much authority and power is possessed by the United States supreme court of law. The problem of division of power was not settled until the Supreme Court made the decision to adjudicate the matter regarding the winning of the largest political contest of the country. The decision of the court to enter into the deep conflicting situation at that time was considered to be as inappropriate by the large group of veterans, law professors, media persons, political analysts and court watchers all over the U.S. however, there was need to determine the right in charge of the power (Denton 153).

BACKGROUND: The night of election 2000 was the suspense night after the ups and downs of many weeks. Most of the U.S citizens were of the belief that Al Gore will be the winner of election but the reality came out in the morning when George W. Bush became the president. During that time, the result of the election and the predication of the winners were very difficult to make as the competition was too high. Many states of U.S. were ready to grab but the state of Florida grabbed it first. The Florida state governor was Bush’s brother Jeb at that time.

The electors of Florida were in confusion to who they decide as the difference between the votes of Bush and Gore was not much. The hatred and fire was evolved in the surrounding regions where the party candidates substituted the allegations in different aspects. The recounting of votes was initiated but then it halted due to the altercation between the Republican Party and democrats regarding the application of standards. The situation was nothing but more troublesome (COHEN, 2012). Entry of court: As the election disputes were rising, the United States Supreme Court took the step of halt the decision of Florida’s Supreme Court to the extension of the time for the certification of votes after the set time limit decided by the state law.

As the hearing of arguments was declared to taken place on 1st December, the certification of votes was actually begun. In between such circumstance, the U.S court delivered the case again to the Florida Supreme Court in the state of embarrassment to give their opinion that will not resulted in any dispute in between state and federal law (Polsby, 208). Just after the week, the recounting of votes started all over the Florida state under the order of Florida Supreme Court. This decision was not accepted by all the judges as differ to the earlier decision.

The Florida Supreme Court judges divided into 4-3 and then U.S Supreme Court enters into the whole scenario another time in order to review the situation and grant certiorari to Bush v. Gore. Just after one day of releasing the order of recounting by the Florida Supreme Court, the U.S Supreme Court made the decision of temporary delay in the recounting process as implemented by the Florida state court (Stone, 2012). The judges of U.S Supreme Court also segregated into 5-4. There were five judges who were in agreement with the decision of temporary stay to the recounting of votes.

The Bush v. gore initial hearing was provided to the nation and what actually happened in case of more actions taken by the court. The last and the third interference of the U.S Supreme Court took place few days after presidential election of 2000. In that decision, the court mentioned in its unsigned opinion that there were 5-4 votes in favor of stopping the recounting of votes as declared by Florida supreme court. If the recounting still prevails, there will be a violation of Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The case was then passed to the Florida court where they had no other option than to just discard it. Finally, the result of presidential election of 2000 was decided by just one vote of the judge of Supreme Court (Lively 69). Without any denial, the George W. Bush supporters were in a state of joy and on the other hand, the Al gore camp was angered by the decision. Most of the U.S citizens were contented with the settlement of the issues. The decision of court for Bush v. Gore issue was the example of understatement of the authority by not unanimously agreed at one point.

The segregated decision i.e. 5-4 implied that it was not a judicial but a political decision (Frantzich 117). Works Cited COHEN, ANDREW . "Bush v. Gore: The Disputed Election Fades Into History."U.S. Political News, Opinion and Analysis - HuffPost Politics. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. . Denton, Frank. Great pages in history from the Wisconsin state journal, 1852-2002. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2002. Print. Frantzich, Stephen E.. O.O.P.S.: observing our politicians stumble : the worst candidate gaffes and recoveries in presidential campaigns.

Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Print. Lively, Donald E., and Russell L. Weaver. Contemporary Supreme Court cases: landmark decisions since Roe v. Wade. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2006. Print. Polsby, Nelson W., Aaron B. Wildavsky, and David A. Hopkins.Presidential elections: strategies and structures of American politics. 12th ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008. Print. Stone, Geoffrey R.. "Equal Protection? The Supreme Court's Decision in Bush v. Gore." The Fathom Archive :: The University of Chicago Library :: Digital Collections. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.