Bush V. Gore: The Court Cases and the Commentary [Paperback]

E. J. Dionne (Author, Editor), William Kristol (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2001

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Washington Post columnist Dionne and Weekly Standard editor Kristol have assembled 12 legal opinions and 62 pieces of journalism on the recent "Five-Week Recount War." The legal documents include texts of four November advisory opinions from Florida officials, several court decisions preceding December's Gore v. Harris in the Florida Supreme Court, and the climactic Bush v. Gore in the U.S. Supreme Court. The journalism is mainly the work of national columnists from such publications as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Republic, and National Review, plus the editors' own Post and Standard pieces. Some legal documents are not printed in full, but the complete texts are available on an accompanying web site. The editors, who differ on recount questions, have been careful to balance opinions in their column selections. They have contributed a brief introduction and a chronology, but otherwise the book is purely documentary. An optional purchase for libraries, who can weigh the local advantage of having this inexpensive compilation from a prestigious imprint against the time staff and patrons would otherwise spend locating these scattered texts in various print and online sources. Robert F. Nardini, Chichester, NH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

E. J. Dionne Jr. is a senior fellow in the Governmental Studies program at the Brookings Institution and a columnist for The Washington Post. William Kristol is editor and publisher of The Weekly Standard.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Brookings Inst Pr (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815701071
• ISBN-13: 978-0815701071
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #691,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, March 26, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bush V. Gore: The Court Cases and the Commentary (Paperback)

This book can really be divided into two parts. The first part of the book provides reprints of some of the key court decisions in the legal battle that transpired after the Presidential election in 2000. While volumes were said and written about these decisions, most Americans did not read the actual decisions themselves. I did read the U.S. Supreme Court decision of December 12th, which effectively ended the legal confrontation, when it was released and was surprised by the way it was portrayed by the press. To my reading, neither side reported it completely accurately. Other key decisions (including two by the Florida Supreme Court) are included conveniently in this one text without the distraction of the 'spin doctors' to tell you what you should be thinking. As a non-lawyer, I found the decisions to be quite readable and within my grasp.

The second part of the book is two collections of editorials, one set chosen by a Pro-Bush advocate and one set chosen by a Pro-Gore advocate. These make for very light reading and this comes as a bit of a relief. After wading through a 60 plus page decision from the Supreme Court, it's a nice change of pace to read some light "op-ed" columns from prominent national newspapers. However, these are relatively unimportant. Does anyone still care what The Washington Post thought about the election on November 21st? I was struck by how inflammatory the rhetoric was in these editorials. This was true on both sides. I'm not sure the country was well served by the press and I'm also not impressed that these sources are particularly important now.

Conspicuously lacking are the plaintiff's briefs, which are really the core first person materials. While you can surmise the logic of the arguments of each side to some extent from the reply of the court, it would have been interesting to have these materials here.

If you are looking for a single source collection of the some of the court decisions in the disputed election, then you may find this reference useful. If you are looking for insight and perspective into what was certainly an historic time for our country (as I was when I purchased this book), this book falls short. Perhaps, it is just too soon to expect this from a book. While we all know what happened, it will probably be some time before we fully understand what it means.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You can stop after the first half, March 15, 2003

By 

Brett (South Dakota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bush V. Gore: The Court Cases and the Commentary (Paperback)

The only reason this book has any value is because of the opinions from the courts that take up the first half of the volume. The rest of the book is filled with op-ed pieces from various newspapers and magazines, liberal and conservative. They are all pretty much worthless. They are too short to offer any real insight, and instead simply seek to use very abrasive rhetoric to whip their respective troops into a frenzy. Reading the court cases however, is clearly an essential part of understanding what happened in the election of 2000. To me, it is fairly clear that what happened to Gore was blatently undemocratic and unfair, but also completely legal under Florida's statutory scheme. So the fundamental question that the book raises, though it never directly address it, is, should we be pursuing a basic sense of fairness, or strictly adhereing to laws, even when it is apparent that they are not functioning in a democratic way, or to the benefit of the citizenry whatsoever. If you think that op-ed columnists will adequately answer that, think again. But at least this book allows thoughtful readers who want to ponder the question for themselves the opportunity to see some source materials.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spin Free Reading, August 3, 2001

By 

K. Diaz "Amateur photographer" (Tustin, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bush V. Gore: The Court Cases and the Commentary (Paperback)

I found this book a great read! Having paid close attention to the press coverage and downloading the decisions at the time, I found this book much easier to follow than what I read and viewed during the conflict. While reading this book, I realized how much spin was actually put on the decisions when reported by the press. I chose this book for its balance and I was not disappointed.