More important to our country now is understanding how #Bush v. #Gore ushered in an era that has culminated in #GOP abandonment of democracy in favor of Trump-styled #strongman #authoritarianism. Americans don’t trust institutions. #SCOTUS, a body of which 58% of Americans now disapprove, and of which a near-record-low 41%. #Court’s credibility problems are linked to its indefensible 2022 decision overturning federal #abortionrights #civilliberties #womenshealth https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4357812-bush-v-gore-destroyed-us/
@bespacific that's a misrepresentation of what Bush v Gore actually said, though.
If you read the ruling, BvG was mainly about kicking down a lower court that had interfered in the democratic process. After all, SCOTUS was an appellate court in that case, as it normally is.
As a court of appeals, SCOTUS wasn't responding directly to the fight between Bush v Gore but was rather responding to the errand rulings of courts below.
This sort of thing is so critical to understanding the US legal system, but sadly, that understanding is so missing in reporting about current events.
@volkris @bespacific And to add insult to injury, the majority opinion basically said “yeah, we don’t actually consider this a precedential interpretation of the equal protection clause”—making it abundantly clear that they didn’t even believe their own bullshit.
SCOTUS reversed the FL court ruling, which effectively shows the FL court to be a lower court, even if one wishes to split hairs about the different court systems.
SCOTUS found that the FL court didn't properly apply *federal* law, which supersedes state law, so this wasn't even about the final arbiter of state law.
You might find the interpretation of the equal protection clause dubious, but well, to paraphrase, SCOTUS is the final arbiter of federal law.
@volkris @bespacific This is all kinds of wrong, including with respect to the procedural posture. The prior ruling was not in a lower court—it was in the Florida state supreme court, applying Florida law. SCOTUS was not acting as an appellate court, as it’s a longstanding rule that state supreme courts are the final arbiters of state law.
Instead, SCOTUS issued an emergency stay of the FL ruling, based on a dubious interpretation of the equal protection clause that had no precedent.