John Paul Stevens: Bush Appeal To Supreme Court Was 'Frivolous'

[Lakhota]

By Luke Johnson

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens writes in his new memoir, Five Chiefs, that the George W. Bush campaign's 2000 appeal to the United States Supreme Court over the Florida recount was "frivolous" and never should have been granted.

He recalls bumping into Justice Stephen Breyer at a Christmas party and the two having a brief conversation about the Bush application to halt the recount by issuing a stay. "We agreed that the application was frivolous," he writes. "To secure a stay, a litigant must show that one is necessary to prevent a legally cognizable irreparable injury. Bush's attorneys had failed to make any such showing."

By a five-to-four vote, the court granted the stay. "What I still regard as a frivolous stay application kept the court extremely busy for four days," he writes. He adds that no justice has ever cited the opinions that provided the basis for their ruling.

Indeed, the court -- unusually -- limited its decision "to the present circumstances," meaning that it did not want it to become a precedent.

More: John Paul Stevens: Bush Appeal To Supreme Court Was 'Frivolous'

 

[Lakhota]

No surprise to me! Al Gore was cheated and robbed.

 

[Amelia]

Florida was a nightmare because the media reported the state's result as decided before the Republican-heavy panhandle was done voting. Lots of people on military bases were waiting to get off of work to go out and vote.

If the state had been given to Gore after that attempt to suppress Republican voting, it would have been an injustice.

 

[Rocko]

The American people were saved from ozone man.

 

[Lakhota]

By ADAM LIPTAK

The Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore, issued eight years ago this month, was widely understood to work like that tape recorder in “Mission: Impossible.” It was meant to produce a president and then self-destruct.

“Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances,” the majority famously said, “for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities.”

That sentence, translated from high legal jargon into English, was often taken to mean this: The decision was a ticket for one ride only. It was not a precedent. It was a ruling, yes, but it was not law.

More: Sidebar - Bush v. Gore Set to Outlast Its Beneficiary - NYTimes.com

 

[Rocko]

who btw got a d in nat science.

 

[ba1614]

If Gore did get robbed(I don't believe he did), It was the luckiest thing to happen to America in some time. I shudder to think of Gore dealing with those 4yrs.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Thank God Clinton and Gore decided to send Elian back to Fidel and choose Easter weekend to send in the stormtroopers! Thank God they infuriated enough Cuban Americans to have Florida go Republican!!!

 

[del]

if the people who presumably knew him best in the state of tennessee could have stomached voting for him, florida would have been moot.


go figure, huh?

 

[Liability]

By Luke Johnson

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens writes in his new memoir, Five Chiefs, that the George W. Bush campaign's 2000 appeal to the United States Supreme Court over the Florida recount was "frivolous" and never should have been granted.

He recalls bumping into Justice Stephen Breyer at a Christmas party and the two having a brief conversation about the Bush application to halt the recount by issuing a stay. "We agreed that the application was frivolous," he writes. "To secure a stay, a litigant must show that one is necessary to prevent a legally cognizable irreparable injury. Bush's attorneys had failed to make any such showing."

By a five-to-four vote, the court granted the stay. "What I still regard as a frivolous stay application kept the court extremely busy for four days," he writes. He adds that no justice has ever cited the opinions that provided the basis for their ruling.

Indeed, the court -- unusually -- limited its decision "to the present circumstances," meaning that it did not want it to become a precedent.

More: John Paul Stevens: Bush Appeal To Supreme Court Was 'Frivolous'

And if Stevens says so it must be so?

Psst. The Bush appeal was -- uhm -- GRANTED. That kind of places Mr. Justice Dimbulb in the minority camp.

So, what Stevens considers a "frivolous" appeal was found not to be.

Stevens, as was so frequently the case, was just -- what's that word again? -- oh yeah -- wrong.

 

[Lakhota]

if the people who presumably knew him best in the state of tennessee could have stomached voting for him, florida would have been moot.


go figure, huh?

While that may be true - it is irrelevant.

Gore Won Florida

 

[Political Junky]

By Luke Johnson

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens writes in his new memoir, Five Chiefs, that the George W. Bush campaign's 2000 appeal to the United States Supreme Court over the Florida recount was "frivolous" and never should have been granted.

He recalls bumping into Justice Stephen Breyer at a Christmas party and the two having a brief conversation about the Bush application to halt the recount by issuing a stay. "We agreed that the application was frivolous," he writes. "To secure a stay, a litigant must show that one is necessary to prevent a legally cognizable irreparable injury. Bush's attorneys had failed to make any such showing."

By a five-to-four vote, the court granted the stay. "What I still regard as a frivolous stay application kept the court extremely busy for four days," he writes. He adds that no justice has ever cited the opinions that provided the basis for their ruling.

Indeed, the court -- unusually -- limited its decision "to the present circumstances," meaning that it did not want it to become a precedent.

More: John Paul Stevens: Bush Appeal To Supreme Court Was 'Frivolous'

Thank you, Justice Stevens.

 

[del]

if the people who presumably knew him best in the state of tennessee could have stomached voting for him, florida would have been moot.


go figure, huh?

While that may be true - it is irrelevant.

Gore Won Florida

wrong twice in one sentence-very good

 

[Amelia]

if the people who presumably knew him best in the state of tennessee could have stomached voting for him, florida would have been moot.


go figure, huh?

While that may be true - it is irrelevant.

Gore Won Florida

The media nullified Florida by reporting it decided before the state was done voting.

The right thing was done. It was a mess from start to finish.


But the right thing was done in the end.


Thank God.

 

[Lakhota]

if the people who presumably knew him best in the state of tennessee could have stomached voting for him, florida would have been moot.


go figure, huh?

While that may be true - it is irrelevant.

Gore Won Florida

wrong twice in one sentence-very good

Thank you. I do what I can...

 

[McDowell's]

You know it's a slow news day when someone wants to rehash this worn out shit.

 

[Lakhota]

For anyone interested, the following link (including several related links) is worth viewing:

Gore Won Florida

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Who gives a shit? It's in the past. It's done and over with and can't be changed. Move on already.

 

[Lakhota]

You know it's a slow news day when someone wants to rehash this worn out shit.

It's not rehash when a former Supreme Court Justice who was involved in the decision finally makes a personal public statement about it.

 

[del]

You know it's a slow news day when someone wants to rehash this worn out shit.

It's not rehash when a former Supreme Court Justice who was involved in the decision finally makes a personal public statement about it.

uh, yeah, it is.

definitely a slow news day when anybody solicits stephens opinion on anything.

the overwhelming reaction to this was probably *who?* followed by *shrug*