On December 12th, 2000, a controversial decision by the Supreme Court of the United States effectively ended a disputed presidential contest between George W. bush and Albert Gore Jr, with a 5-4 ruling that revealed the court to be as bitterly divided as the electorate. Four days earlier, the Florida Supreme Court had abruptly and dramatically changed the dynamics of the election by reversing a lower court and ordering hand recounts of "undervotes" statewide. The US Supreme court quickly stepped in to halt the recounts and agreed to hear Bush v. Gore. After brief oral arguments and a short period of deliberation, the high court reversed the state court decision. The justices in both cases were bittely divided, and passionate language emerged in both the majority rulings and the dissents. The drama and divisiveness of this extraordinary saga come to life in the rulings, opinions, and dissents from these two cases: US Supreme Court case 00-949 (Bush v. Gore) and Florida Supreme Court case 00-2431 (Gore v. Harris). The first section of the volume gathers the complete text of both rulings together.
The second section of the book gathers the most significant contemporaneous opinion pieces from journalists and scholars on both sides of the political fence. Selected and organized by political analysts, E.J. Dionne and William Kristol, these articles illuminate the perspectives of both sides about the various twists and turns in the post-election campaign, and the landmark judicial intevention. A companion website provides links to documents from additional legal proceedings and other rleated documents and writings. The legal and historical significance of the 2000 election will be studied and debated for years to come. This volume combines the most important source documents with the most intelligent opinion and analysis about the conflict and its controversial resolution.