Law Commons^™

Why The Supreme Court Should Not Have Decided The Presidential Election Of 2000, Jesse H. Choper

Jesse H Choper

This short article briefly discusses the two substantive issues in Bush v. Gore. Its major thesis, however, is that the proper role of judicial review dictates the conclusion that the Court's adjudication was unnecessary and unwise, creating a popular perception of partisanship by the Judicial Branch that carries the threat of diminishing the Court's public trust and confidence and endangering its overall effectiveness. The process for contesting the vote was working, to the extent litigation 'works.' The problem was not with the process, imperfect as it was, but that the election produced a statistical dead heat. Although the litigation in …