8A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, December 4, 2000 D e mosaoE L E C T I O N rouh Deonstrators crowd streets outside high court By Jeremy W. Peters Daily Staff Reporter WASHINGTON - The mob ruled Friday outside the nation's highest court. Numbering in the thousands, impassioned and often confrontational demonstrators crowd- ed the sidewalks surrounding the Supreme Court to weigh in on the disputed presidential election. .riter Al Gore's front man, former Clinton aidministration Secretary of State Warren Cliistopher, into this sea of partisan bickering and the reaction from George W. Bush support- ers as Christopher made his way to television cameras set up in front of the Court could have been easily predicted. The jeering from Bush supporters was so dis- ruptiye that Christopher was unable to hold an interview with ABC News immediately follow- ing the proceedings, a source outside the court tepp ted. : porters attempting to conduct interviews Wthe numerous attorneys, legal scholars and m1jnbers of Congress exiting the court were fbZ'ed to compete with shouting from both 11ii and Gore zealots. (ore partisans, though clearly outnumbered, wewinot to be outperformed. ctivists Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton led WASHINGTON doitinued from Page 1A St dging from the justices' questions, the hi cp could remain above the fray of partisanship rTahing a decision. STbey were equally forthright to Bush law) J dore Olson and Gore lawyer Lawrence Tribe 4gidsioning them primarily on issues of state ver ereal law - the conflict at the center of this ca s Palm Beach C'ountv Camvassing Board. - 1We are looking for a federal issue," Justi -At}ony Kennedy said, interrupting Olson about t intes into arguments. "If the state Supreme Co relied on a federal issue or a federal backgrou principle and got it wrong, then you can be here." Td this challenge, Olson replied, "I'm simply s; ing that it blew past the important provisions of S tiorr5 and the benefits Section 5 gives to the states the voters in that state and to the people running office in that state." Section 5 of Title 3 of the United States Code,t law at the center of Bush's case, allows states to dev electoral rules before an election. It was enacted al the disputed presidential election of 1876 in whi Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Samuel Tilden inI Electoral College after losing the popular vote. Qu tions were raised about the manner in which sta conducted their electoral procedures. Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg pressed Olson on c of the most contentious aspects of the high cou acceptance to review this case: The fact that the U Supreme Court rarely interferes with the rulings marches in defense of Gore as other, less high- profile demonstrators attempted to outmuscle Bush advocates. "I'm a little bit stunned by how many Bush/Cheney supporters are here," said Rochelle Tobias, a Baltimore resident. "What really stuns me is the fear Bush people have of a hand count." Tobias said she made the trip to Washington as an exercise of her First Amendment right to protest. "I'm here because I feel it is a necessary democratic principle to defend what I believe." That seemed to be the overarching sentiment among demonstrators: To take advantage of the right to assembly. "As long as everyone stays peaceful, we're fine. This is the greatest stage in the world and what better place to have an open dialogue," said Bush supporter Jim McBride, who said he drove to Washington from Long Beach Island. N.J., to document the day's events on fih for his grand- children. Replacing the usual "Sore-Loserman" and "We've been Bushwacked" signs that have been endlessly brandished at protests across the nation, demonstrators at the Supreme Court were a bit more creative. Many Bush proponents held signs resembling the movie poster from Jim Carrev's latest film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." On the sign, Gore's face was superimposed over Carrey's and it read, "How the Gorinch almost stole Florida." "I got it on the Internet. You can get every- thing on the Internet these days;' said Suzanne Spillers when asked where she got her "Gor- inch" sign. Spillers is a resident of Palm Beach County, Fla., where Gore's legal team is arguing disputed ballots should be included in the state's final tally. "Bush won the first count, he won the recount and the one after that,' Spillers said, reciting a phrase often uttered by Republicans. "Vice Pres- ident Gore needs to be a statesman and concede. He needs to conie back another day. That's how it works in America." Gore ally Kyle Lierman, a 14-year-old from Bethesda, Md., who came to the Supreme Court with his Social Studies class, was parading in front of the Court with his homemade sign. Lierman made an anagram of Gore's name on his sign. It read, "Government Of the people Requires that Each vote counts," spelling "GORE" down the side." "We're just here to participate in a participato- ry democracy," Lierman said. "I guess I thought there would be a little more rioting, but there wasn't and that's great. I was expecting to see Bush people to get punched in the face by Gore people but that didn't happen." AP PHOTO Officers separate supporters of Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush outside the 11.S Sunr"'meCourt+ in Washinstononn Fridav v.a. aupfullic '..uuri. III rr05111116EUtr Ulf rrluoy. "we owe the highest respect to what the state supreme Court says. It's the state's law." -Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg state supreme courts. "I do not know of any case where we have impugned a state Supreme Court in the way you are doim, in this case," Ginsburg said. "I mean, in case after case we have said we owe the highest respect to what the state Supreme Court says. It's the state's law." Olson retorted by citing the specifics of this case. "This is a very unusual situation, Justice Ginsburg, because it is in the context of a presidential election, and it is in the context of federal rights" he said. The justices were no easier on Tribe. "I mean, it had to register somehow with the Florida courts that that statute (Section 5) was there and that it might be in the state's best interest not to go around changing the law after the election', O'Connor said. Tribe had to defend himself on this point many times in his 45-minute argument. "It seems to me that as a tiebreaker, as a way of shedding light on the provisions that are in conflict, so long as it's not done in a way that conflicts with a federal mandate, they (the Florida Supreme Court) are not violating any ..." Tribe said before being interrupted by Justice Antonin Scalia. "I don't agree with that," Scalia said. "I read the Florida court's opinion as quite clearly saying, hav- ing determined what the legislative intent was, we find that our state constitution trumps that legislative intent. I don't think there is any other way to read it and that is a real problem." Tribe also faced questions about the Nov. 26 dead- line for counties to submit their vote totals, which Bush lawyers have argued is arbitrary. "What is the November 26 date." Justice Steven Brever asked. "Has (the Florida Court) created a new date ? What is it?" "Well it looks to me like an exercise of the chancel- lor's foot:' Tribe responded. admitting somewhat that the date was not drawn based on any logic. "When I saw the date, November 26, I couldn't come up with an algorithm or a formula that would generate it, but the court confronted with the task of drawing what are sometimes inevitably arbitrary lines." After he argued his case before the court, Tribe said he was not discouraged by the questioning. "They have the tendency to put on the skeptic's hat to sort of probe the underbelly of an argument," he said in reference to the justices' questions. As for the possible outcome of the case, Tribe said, "I wouldn't bet my life on it." Olson said he too felt comfortable with the justice's line of questions. "I would characterize their reaction to our argument as being interested in what we had to say," he said. "Many times the justices ask questions to make sure that all of the questions are explored fully." FLORIDA Continued from Page 1A Gore lieutenant Warren Christopher also mentioned a Democratic lawsuit in Seminole County, where GOP officials were allowed to add information to thousands of absentee ballot applica- tions already submitted to election offi- cials. Their options running low, Gore aides are pinning more of their hopes on the case in east Florida. Christopher, appearing oi CNN, charged that Cheney "is trying to hurry history along." And yet the question kept coming: When would Gore concede? "I can assure you that the vice presi- dent, when the time comes, will con- cede in a very gracious way. ie understands his obligations to the peo- ple of the country," Christopher said, not predicting when that time would come. "It depends upon when the Florida courts rule. The date of Dec. 12, of course, is an important date," he said. States select their electors Dec. 12 and the Electoral College meets Dec. 18. Democratic lawyers said privately they expected Sauls to rule against them, and were preparing an appeal to the state Supreme Court. Gore predicted whichever side loses would appeal. Bush laid lown at his Crawford, Texas ranch one day after iieetitig with GOP congressional leaders in a presidential- style summit. Gore won the national popular vote by more than 300,000 votes, but without Florida he falls short of the 270 electoral votes required to win the presidency. The state's 25 electoral votes would put Bush over the top by a margin of one. Secretary of State Katherine Harris, Bush ally, certified his minuscule lead1 Nov. 26, forcing Gore to take the unprecedented step of contesting a pres- idential election result or quit the race. That led Gore to Sauls' court, where lawyers plowed through hours of dry testimony from GOP witnesses. Gore's attorneys asked Sauls to quicken the pace or allow the recounts to begin before he rules. Sauls rejected the request, saying h needs to determine that a recount is legal before ordering one. "That's what we're in the process. of doing," he said, peering over glasses and rocking in his leather chair. Delivering a boost to Gore's case, one Bush witness - voting machine expert John Ahimann of Napa, Calif. - testi-' fled under cross-examination that hand recounts are advisable "in very close elections. Is your method of advertising causing you nothing but pain? a // :, What Should American Jews Do When Israel is Under Siege? Explore the connection between Israel and the American Jewish Community I I WAIII Pa2;P the fin!i ~I I I RolkKkOl I I A I 1 III WAWRS i iT-Zimm I