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Greta Van Susteren explains legal battle in Florida Supreme Court
Q: Because George W. Bush has been unsuccessful in previous attempts to block the manual recounts in federal court, how do the arguments differ in their appeal of the Florida Supreme Court decision? Van Susteren: Different issues were raised in the two different courts. One was in the Miami court that was a request for an injunction and laid out certain reasons why it thought it was entitled to an injunction. In the Florida Supreme Court case it arose out of a trial court issue in which the Florida Secretary of State was accused of abusing her discretion when she said she would not consider additional votes after the 5 p.m. deadline. Now, the question there was that an abuse of discretion when she said she would not consider it, that was the issue, it went up to the Florida Supreme Court. What the Florida Supreme Court said is that 'yes it was an abuse of discretion based on the fact that there is a conflict of laws in the state of Florida having to do with recounts and certification and based on the fact that she made up her mind before she even had any additional votes presented to her.' So a little different issue, they're packaged a little differently.
Q: Can Gore's attorneys ask the Florida Supreme Court to revisit the deadline it set for finishing the manual recounts in the wake of the Miami-Dade County decision to stop its count? Van Susteren: The order said they would not entertain a rehearing on it. Q: Elaborate on what it means when James Baker said, the court "rewrote the legislature's statutory system and assumed the responsibilities of the executive branch " and other Republicans said the court overstepped its role? Van Susteren: Let me tell you fundamental rules of construction. This is the court's obligation, whether it's the Florida Supreme Court or any court. Its job is to interpret the law, and the way you do this is to interpret the plain language of the statute. The plain language of a statute may be in conflict with the plain language of another statute and it is incumbent on the court to try to figure out what the legislature meant and to reconcile the conflict. I suspect that what Mr. Baker does is that he disagrees not with the recognition that that's what a court's job is to do, but with the court's decision and how they did it. But the court clearly had conflicting statutes and it needed to resolve the problem. Q: A Palm Beach County judge issued a ruling Wednesday allowing dimpled chad to be counted, what impact does that have on the recounts in other county's? Van Susteren: It doesn't bind the other counties, but it's a nod and a wink and sometimes other counties will take direction from it. This is a significant victory for Vice President Al Gore only because of the psychological aspect and gets the momentum going, it doesn't change the law. The law has always been that the Canvassing Board has the ability, has the job, of determining the intent of the voters. What the court said is that you can't have some sort of exclusion, that's all. RELATED STORIES: Bush, Harris urge end to Florida recount; Gore seeks uniform standard RELATED SITES: Florida State Courts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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