Florida Court Circus
The multitude of court cases and lawsuits filed in Florida staggers the mind, and is impossible to keep track of without a dance card. So here it is.
“You seem...to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all Constitutional questions: a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one, which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges are as honest as other men, and not more so. They have, with others, the same passions for party, for power, and the privilege of their corps.” -- Thomas Jefferson
No Court Can Save Us
Dec. 5, 2000: Learned Hand was right: “[This] much I think I do know--that a society so riven that the spirit of moderation is gone, no court can save; that a society where that spirit flourishes, no court need save; that in a society which evades its responsibility by thrusting upon the courts the nurture of that spirit, that spirit in the end will perish.” Wow. A worthy and well-studied article by former Supreme Court justice nominee Robert Bork.Florida Courts Reject All of Gore’s Claims
Dec. 5, 2000: It’s been four weeks. Four weeks since the election. Twenty-eight days of maddening gamesmanship by Al Gore and his supporters, who have made claim after claim about the essential fraudulence of the Florida results - every single one of which has been rejected by the courts they profess to love so much.1996 Ruling Paves Way for Seminole Dismissal
Dec. 5, 2000: If legal precedent means anything, Gore will lose any hope his team has that more than 15,000 absentee ballots will be thrown out by Fla. Supreme Court Judge Nikki Clark. Even if Clark throws out the ballots, the Bush campaign can immediately file an appeal to the Fla. Supreme Court -- a very partisan body which will be hard-pressed to ingore its own ruling four years ago.Boies May Be Blocked from Supreme Court
Dec. 5, 2000: There is presently underway an effort by an influential legal organization to block Gore lead attorney, David Boies, from appearing this week before the Florida Supreme Court to argue the merits of his client.Top Florida Court to Hear Gore Appeal
Dec. 5, 2000: The Florida Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear Al Gore’s appeal of a ruling that upheld George W. Bush’s statewide victory in the contested presidential race. A court spokesman, Craig Waters, said the justices wanted written papers submitted by Wednesday afternoon, and would hear oral arguments Thursday morning in the case that could ultimately settle the race for the White House.Florida Judge Rejects Gore Election Challenge
Dec. 4, 2000: A Florida judge rejected on Monday Democrat Al Gore’s legal challenge to the certified result of the presidential election in Florida that gave a razor-thin victory to Republican George W. Bush. Dismissing Gore’s bid for a recount of thousands of disputed ballots, Judge N. Sanders Sauls of the Leon County Circuit Court said the Democrats had “failed to carry their requisite burden of proof” in the case.Punch-card Vendor Refutes Gore Claims
Dec. 4, 2000: Paul Nolte doubts claims by Vice President Al Gore that flaws in equipment used in tabulating punch-card votes in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties caused several hundred votes for Gore to go uncounted on Election Day. Nolte should know. He sold the counties their tabulation systems.Gore Pins Hopes on Today’s Challenge
Dec. 2, 2000: Al Gore suffered two setbacks Friday in the Florida Supreme Court, making today’s historic court challenge his main hope for winning the presidency.Democrats Seek to Toss Out Ballots
Dec. 1, 2000: “Democrats sought to toss out 24,000 absentee ballots in two Republican-leaning counties Friday, making a second claim Republicans broke the law to complete ballot applications.” Let Every Vote Count. Yeah, right.Gore Team Misstates Facts
Dec. 1, 2000: Gore attorney David Boies yesterday continued to tout an Illinois court case as proof that dimpled ballots must be counted, even though an affidavit he submitted to Florida officials on the case was retracted. Republicans say it is one of several incidents in which Vice President Al Gore’s campaign, and the candidate himself, are misstating fundamental facts to get ballots counted their way and sway public opinion.State Official Backs Seminole Ballots
Nov. 30, 2000: Republican Party officials who fixed flawed request forms for hundreds of absentee ballots could face prosecution, but that is no reason to throw those ballots out, the state’s election director said Wednesday.Nonsense in Seminole
Nov. 30, 2000: Most of the Florida election lawsuits involve difficult issues with legitimate arguments on both sides. A glaring exception is the suit brought by Harry Jacobs, a personal-injury lawyer, seeking to invalidate 15,000 absentee ballots cast in Seminole County.Gore Suffers Another Setback in Court
Nov. 30, 2000: A Florida judge yesterday rejected Al Gore’s demand for immediate access to a promising batch of ballots, while the Florida Legislature moved closer toward asserting itself in defense of George W. Bush. It was a double dose of bad news for the vice president on the second day of his lawsuit contesting the outcome of Florida’s election.Counting On Some Slippery Language
Nov. 30, 2000: As George W. Bush is inaugurated Jan. 20, the law firm of Boies, Gore & Lieberman may be clustered in front of the platform, waving legal briefs purporting to demonstrate illegal imperfections in the way the “will of the people” was measured in Florida ... by George Will.Florida Legislature Gears Up to Intervene
Nov. 29, 2000: The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature appeared today on the verge of convening a special session to intervene in the disputed presidential election, and Florida Governor Jeb Bush said he would sign a bill naming the state’s 25 electors “if it was the appropriate thing to do.”Dispute Over Absentee Ballots to be Tried Dec. 6
Nov. 28, 2000: A circuit court judge Tuesday set a Dec. 6 trial date for a new lawsuit over absentee ballots in Seminole County – a wild card that Al Gore hopes will let him seize the presidency.Crowning the Imperial Judiciary
Nov. 28, 2000: So four decades of judicial activism, at both the state and federal levels, mostly unchallenged by the other branches of government, culminates in this: Judges may now select the next president of the United States. Almost no one seems to think this odd. By William Kristol.Florida’s Rogue Court
Nov. 28, 2000: In September 1945, as bejeweled dancers swirled at one of London’s first postwar high society balls, a gentleman murmured contentedly, “This is what we fought the war for.” A droll lady, gesturing to the dancers, responded, “Oh, do you mean they are all Poles?” Few in 1945 remembered that the world conflagration began over Poland, and few today remember that Al Gore began sowing chaos in Florida by challenging Palm Beach County’s butterfly ballot. ... by George Will.Gore Faces Uphill Battle in Courts
Nov. 27, 2000: When attorneys for Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore go to court Monday morning to contest Sunday’s vote count, they will face a tough legal fight. But given the twists and turns of the hand tallies in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, they have a better than even hope of success, experts say.‘Fair and Just’
Nov. 22, 2000: “Perhaps the scariest thing said in the hearing before the Florida Supreme Court was said by the chief justice at the end, that the court would try to reach a ‘fair and just’ decision. That is not what an appellate court is for. Juries and trial judges are supposed to produce fair and just decisions. Appellate courts are supposed to determine whether the people whose decisions are being appealed to them exceeded or misused their authority.” By Thomas Sowell.What’s Next in Florida
Nov. 22, 2000: Look for the state legislature and the federal courts to weigh in; by John Fund for the Wall Street Journal.The Final Word? Maybe Not
Nov. 21, 2000: Florida’s Supreme Court could face challenges if they rule the way Gore wants them to; by John Fund for the Wall Street Journal.Palm Beach Judge Rejects New Election
Nov. 20, 2000: A Palm Beach Circuit Court judge Monday denied a request to hold a revote in Palm Beach County because of alleged confusion over the “butterfly ballot” in the Nov. 7 presidential election.Judge Will Hear Absentee Ballot Suit
Nov. 20, 2000: A judge ruled Monday she would hear a suit challenging Seminole County’s absentee ballots on the grounds of alleged fraud. Democrat Harry Jacobs filed the suit Friday, claiming Supervisor of Elections Sandra Goard violated state law.Florida Supreme Court Blocks Vote Certification
Nov. 17, 2000: The Florida Supreme Court has just ruled that “in order to preserve the status quo,” Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris may not certify the election results Saturday.Big Bush Win, Harris Upheld!
Nov. 17, 2000: In a stunning decision, Florida Judge Terry Lewis, a Democrat, has ruled that Secretary of State Katherine Harris acted within the scope of her authority as chief election official to exclude the hand-counted ballots not submitted by the statutory deadline of 5 p.m. this past Tuesday.Florida’s Supreme Court Justices
Nov. 16, 2000: Florida’s Supreme Court is made up of five men and two women. All seven were chosen by Democratic governors, although the newest justice, Peggy Quince, was jointly appointed in 1998 by Gov. Lawton Chiles and then-Gov.-elect Jeb Bush.Florida Supreme Court, Here We Come
Nov. 14, 2000: Events, as predicted here yesterday, are moving toward a showdown over the secretary of state’s order of a 5 p.m. deadline to certify the vote.9-year-olds Ace Florida Ballot
Nov. 11, 2000: It was a lesson in disbelief for Louisiana fourth- and first-graders who spent about a minute Thursday correctly selecting Democrat Al Gore or Republican George W. Bush from the list of candidates on copies of the controversial Florida presidential ballot.Pro-Gore Plaintiff Really a Dem Activist
Nov. 10, 2000: Now we see the lengths to which the Gore camp will go to steal the election in Florida. It turns out that Andre Fladell, a supposedly “confused” Palm Beach County voter, who was trotted out to the media by local lawyers as someone who inadvertently cast his ballot for a candidate other than his choice, is a longtime Democrat activist who was once found guilty of Medicare fraud.Send In the Lawyers
Nov. 8, 2000: If America thought it got, in the Elian Gonzalez saga, a bellyful of lawyers interjecting themselves into a national story and warping it, thereby traumatizing and polarizing the participants as well as millions of observers, here is a warning from Elian’s former state of residence: You ain’t seen nothing yet.Florida State Election Returns
The official website.