World News 01-12-2000 Supreme Court May Decide President who: US Supreme Court what: To rule on constitutionality of Florida Supreme Court decision where: Washington DC when: Today snippet: "The US Supreme Court takes centre stage in the presidential election battle," reports the BBC today, "when lawyers present their arguments for and against Florida`s manual recounts of the 7 November ballot." Lawyers in Washington DC will argue before the nine justices whether or not the Florida Supreme Court acted constitutionally when it allowed a partial manual recount of votes. If the Republican Party win the case, Democratic candidate Al Gore will be "under severe pressure to concede the election". "Not since the Watergate scandal of the 1970s have the nine members of the US supreme court been so firmly in a presidential minefield," writes Martin Kettle in The Guardian. "Back then, by ordering Richard Nixon to hand over his White House tapes, the court made a ruling which eventually drove the president to resign. Now, 26 years later, it may again make history by in effect deciding who will become the 43rd US president". Meanwhile, regardless of the Supreme Court case, Florida legislators have arranged a meeting in Tallahassee to appoint the state`s 25 Electoral College members, effectively taking the presidential election in their own hands and risking a constitutional crisis. "To say that they are prepared to put their judgement in place of the six million voters of Florida... is just wrong and sets a terrible precedent," commented Al Gore`s running mate Joseph Lieberman yesterday. [... more]

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