U.S. Supreme Court begins hearing

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, DEC. 1. A historic event got under way this morning as lawyers for the Texas Governor, Mr. George Bush, and the Vice- President, Mr. Al Gore, asked the United States Supreme Court to give finality to a presidential election process now in its fourth week. Without the presence of television cameras, the highest court is considering such critical issues as States' rights and separation of powers. Scores of protesters representing both the Bush and the Gore campaigns gathered outside the Supreme Court building here.

The nine justices of the apex court - seven appointed by Republican Presidents and two by Democrats - are hearing arguments as to why they should or should not overturn a Florida Supreme Court ruling that extended the deadline for the certification to include handcounted votes. The court has allocated 90 minutes, to be evenly taken up by the lawyers for Mr. Bush and Mr. Gore, the former's chief lawyer going first.

In addition, the Gore campaign is seeking the intervention of the highest court to restrain the Republican- dominated State Legislature in Florida from coming up with its own slate of electors. Although no firm date has been set, a Committee of the State Legislature, ruling along party lines, has called for the convening of a special session to choose its own electors who will most certainly cast their vote for Mr. Bush when the Electoral College meets.

After having won the certification from Florida last Sunday, a legal win for the Texas Governor would not mean much - it would alter his margin of victory to 930 votes from the present 537 - but the political implications will be significant.

To Mr. Gore, a victory here will legitimise his ongoing legal battles and also shore up his position in the Florida courts in the election contest phase. A clear-cut ruling of the nine justices would also be sending a message to the Florida State legislature.

In an extraordinary move, the U.S. Supreme Court, in turning down appeals for allowing television cameras, said audiotapes of the courthouse proceedings will be made available as soon as the session is over. That will enable knowing where the justices were coming from - that is, based on their questioning of the legal teams. The nine justices are known for their rather sharp interventions. In fact, some argue that the bench has a ``reputation'' for intimidating lawyers. Thus far no one has ventured to second-guess how the court is going to handle the case which will go the distance in determining who the 43rd President of the United States is.

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