Word: circuits
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...what the vice president says could be his last legal stand in this drawn-out election, the Gore team presented its appeal of Leon County Circuit Court Judge Sanders Sauls' ruling, which dismissed Gore's contest of the Florida election results. And because Gore's lawyers had to show some flaw in Sauls' decision or interpretation of the law, it was the judge's opinion itself that sustained the most intensive scrutiny during the 90-minute session...
...Judge Sauls, the court asked, use the correct standard to arrive at his ruling? The Gore team argued the negative, pointing out that because Sauls depended upon old election statutes from 1974 and 1982, rather than using a 1999 precedent which allows a looser interpretation of "contest" requirements, the circuit court decision is untenable. The Bush lawyers, on the other hand, insisted that Sauls ruled the only way he could: The Gore team, after all, did not satisfy existing standards for a recount, which require a plaintiff to prove there is "reasonable probability" that a recount will yield a changed...
...Their task? First, to convince the Florida Supreme Court to formally accept their appeal. Then, to persuade the Justices that in ruling against Gore's contest of Florida's election results, Leon County Circuit Court Judge Sanders Sauls abused his judicial discretion and relied upon a flawed legal standard, misinterpreting Florida's election law, which, according to Gore lawyers, specifically allows recounts in very close elections. "If this state's contest provision is to have any meaning," the Gore brief states, "the meaning must be this: It is a mechanism for determining if state authorities certified the wrong candidate...
...Elsewhere Wednesday, the Bush legal team sustained a minor blow: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against them, rejecting Bush's claims that Florida's recounts are unconstitutional. GOP lawyers had hoped a ruling in their favor would add momentum to a growing swell of Bush legal victories, and might even serve to counteract a Gore victory in the Florida Supreme Court...
...with nuclear time bombs like Seminole and Martin ticking on Gore's side and a lightly regarded 11th Circuit Court appeal ticking on Bush's, Gore and Lieberman are making very clear that they consider the Dec. 12 deadline to be a two-way street...