|
Bush Campaign's Supreme Court Appeal | |
|
Update: The U.S. Supreme Court, on Nov. 24, stated that it would consider the appeal filed by the Bush Campaign. Oral arguments will be heard on December 1.
The Court agreed to hear the Bush campaign's appeal titled, Bush v. Palm Beach Canvassing Board, challenging the Nov. 21 ruling by the Florida Supreme Court allowing hand recounts in Florida counties to continue.
Important: The fact that the Supreme Court agreed to review this case in no way indicates the way the Court feels about the merits of Gov. Bush's appeal, or how the Justices might rule on it.
The Court refused to hear Siegel v. LePore, in which the Bush campaign claimed that the hand recounts in Florida violated the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
This article attempts to explain two vital areas of the Bush campaign's Supreme Court appeal.
- What the Bush campaign is appealing to the Supreme Court
- Why the Bush campaign is appealing to the Supreme Court
- How the Supreme Court decides which cases to hear
What
the Bush Campaign is Appealing to the Supreme Court
Specifically, the Bush campaign is appealing before the U.S. Supreme Court a
decision made in a lower court:
Bush v. Palm Beach Canvassing Board - The Nov. 21 ruling by the Florida Supreme Court allowing hand recounts in Florida counties to continue.
|
|
Why the Bush Campaign is Appealing to
the Supreme Court
The Bush campaign contends that when the Florida Supreme Court (in Bush v. Palm Beach Canvassing Board)
set the date deadlines for Florida counties to complete their recounts, they
effectively changed electoral vote deadlines and vote recount processes set by
federal law. In doing this, the Bush campaign contends the Florida justices
violated the constitutional concept of "separation of powers" between
the federal and state governments.
See: U.S. Code, Title 3, Chapter 1, Sec. 5: - Determination of controversy as to appointment of electors
Secondly, the Bush campaign argues that the Florida Supreme Court's action allowed the Florida counties to use different standards for counting the ballots in violation of a Florida law forbidding changing election rules after the election. (The Florida court's ruling did not address vote counting standards. According to the Bush legal team, this allowed the counties to use arbitrary and differing standards.)
Finally, the Bush team argues that the use of different recount methods in the Florida counties violates both the "equal protection" and "due process" clauses of the U.S. Constitution by treating voters in the three counties differently.
"The effect of the court's opinion will be that voters' votes are being evaluated differently in different parts of Florida," stated Bush in response to the Florida Supreme Court's ruling.
The "equal protection" and "due process" clauses are both contained in Section 1 of the 14th Amendment:
"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." - U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment
Next page > How the Supreme Court Decides Which Cases to Hear? > Page 1, 2, 3, 4
