Presidential Election Cases
Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, et al.
The U.S. Supreme Court's December 4 Opinion
On December 4, the U.S. Supreme Court "vacated" the Florida Supreme Court's
opinion and remanded the case back to the Florida Supreme Court for its reconsideration.
The seven-page December 4 opinion was issued "per curiam" (that is, by the Court
as a whole) rather than by any one justice.
By vacating (rather than reversing) the Florida court's opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court has given the state high court another opportunity to justify its decision to extend a state deadline for certifying the election results in the 2000 presidential election.
In its December 4 opinion, the Supreme Court explained that before it could review two issues in the case, the Florida court needed to clarify its own reasoning. "Specifically," said the Court:
"We are unclear as to the extent to which the Florida Supreme Court saw the Florida Constitution as circumscribing the legislature’ s authority under Art. II, §1, cl. 2. We are also unclear as to the consideration the Florida Supreme Court accorded to 3 U. S. C. §5. The judgment of the Supreme Court of Florida is therefore vacated, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion."
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