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US Supreme Court Rules for Bush, Gore Urged to Concede
The US Supreme Court Tuesday, December 12, sent the disputed recount case back to the Florida Supreme Court for further proceedings, saying any recount seeking to meet the December 12 date will be "unconstitutional."
The court actually reversed the ruling by the Florida Supreme Court to allow hand recounts of disputed ballots in Florida, handing Republican George W. Bush a victory in his bid to close out the state's contested presidential election.
The nation's highest court decision dealt a crushing setback to Democrat Al Gore's hopes of winning the presidency.
After the court ruled in favor of Bush, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ed Rendell urged Vice President Al Gore to concede, MSNBC reported.
The country's top court voted 7-2 that the Florida Supreme Court ruling ordering the recounts presented constitutional problems, but then split by a 5-4 vote on whether new recounts should be ordered to remedy the problem.
In a live TV broadcast, the justices said the Florida Supreme Court's decision had violated equal rights.
"Because it is evident that any recount seeking to meet the December 12 date will be unconstitutional ... we reverse the judgment of the Supreme Court of Florida ordering the recount to proceed," the court said.
The court, which issued its ruling in an unsigned opinion, said that because Florida lawmakers intended in effect to complete the choosing of electors by December 12, an order requiring a new recount "could not be part of an appropriate" remedy.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas said the Florida Supreme Court also violated the Constitution and federal law in ordering the recount.
However, Justice John Stevens said, "Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the law."
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