Bush v. Gore: Ten Years Later

Ten years ago, I was sitting in the Worldport Terminal at JFK, on my way home.  I’d just picked up some Burger King french fries, waiting for a connecting flight back to DCA, while I watched the news.  And it was there that I heard the result of Bush v. Gore.  I can still tell you exactly where I was sitting.  And then I saw the opinion read out on the television.  And I was shocked.

Stupified.  Confounded.  Stunned.

The five justices in the majority helped complete my legal education in a way that I – at the time – truly didn’t think was possible.

The idealism of youth, I suppose.  Or something like that.

To review, the majority applied a principle that they’d never cared about in a way that they’d never done before to a specific set of circumstances they said should never be considered in the future.

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I have very little interest in talking about Bush v. Gore.  There’s nothing to say about it, from a legal standpoint.  Sure, it’s a little useful as a basic honesty test, but those that defend it almost always reveal themselves as charlatans well before you ever get to the case itself.  But I do hope that it’s taken as a lesson by new generations.

So long as the Republican party that produced the 5-4 result exists, it’s important that everyone involved in politics understands what happened.