La cour suprême dans Bush c. Core: Du conflit entre droit et politique

Abstract

In December 2000, when the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari first in Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, and then in Bush v. Gore, most constitutional scholars were surprised if not shocked as a Court with a reputation of deference towards the States had just accepted to hear cases in the presidential election dispute which seemed essentially to concern the interpretation of the Florida election statutes. In doing so, the Court seemed to promise a quick resolution to avert the impending constitutional crisis which loomed if the election were to be decided in Congress in January 2001. This article claims that the Court acted in this case as a political body ready to risk its prestige for the good of the country. The decision of the Supreme Court to intervene should be analyzed within the broader context of the relation between the three branches of government as the justices perceived it in 2000. The stakes were high as the Court itself, and its future composition, were among the key elements of the election. Did the Court, as some claim, commit institutional suicide, or did it rather make a wise and prudent use of its political capital?