From Publishers Weekly
In this dense and detailed study, Posner, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge and University of Chicago law professor, departs from many recent analyses of the 2000 presidential election in finding both the election and the Supreme Court decision that ended it fair and defensible. Posner begins by arguing that U.S. democracy should be seen as a practical, structured procedure for picking leaders. He next moves to a quite confusing, statistical analysis of whether or not Gore could have won the Florida vote in a hand recount. His answer is maybe, depending on what ballots were counted hanging chads, pregnant chads, what have you. But he then argues this is moot, since the Florida Supreme Court was wrong to order hand counts in the first place, a decision properly belonging to the Florida legislature, in accordance with Article II of the U.S. Constitution. It then follows that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore to end the hand count was correct, although its reasoning was not. The Court found the recount violated the equal protection afforded by the Constitution, but should have just referred to Article II. Posner sees this decision as an exercise in judicial "pragmatism," in which judges consider the practical implications of their rulings. By acting as it did, the Supreme Court avoided the chaos of throwing the election to the U.S. House of Representatives and thus preserved election procedure. Posner's endless references to legal arcana and statistical minutiae, make his arguments oblique and extremely difficult to follow. (Sept. 5)Forecast: Posner is a highly visible and respected jurist, and his book will receive media attention, but it won't compete sales-wise with the election postmortems of his liberal opponents Alan Dershowitz and Vince Bugliosi.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Posner, a leading law and economics scholar and judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, offers a careful examination of state and federal litigation concerning postelection ballot and constitutional controversies culminating in the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore (2000). Posner offers precise insights and analysis of constitutional law and statutory provisions, criticizing both liberal and conservative constitutional scholars while exploring the complexities of Florida's voting processes. His excellent analysis reveals the societal underpinnings of democracy, constitutionalism, and voting schemes. Demonstrating the difficulties of solving electoral problems in presidential elections within our existing laws and institutions, Posner argues that in Bush v. Gore the Court acted reasonably and pragmatically if not necessarily correctly according to state law and the U.S. Constitution. In this regard, his analysis stands in sharp contrast to that of Alan Dershowitz in Supreme Injustice (LJ 8/01) and like that book represents a leading view on this controversial subject. Highly recommended for general readers with knowledge of American politics or constitutional law. Steven Puro, St. Louis Univ.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
