Transcript Court TV: Hello everyone. Alan Dershowitz is here. Welcome. Alan Dershowitz: Welcome to the ongoing drama that you will be telling your grandchildren about and that your great grandchildren will be reading about in their history books: the most controversial election in modern history and perhaps in the modern history of the world. I have a strong point of view about this matter, so throw me your hardest questions. Marty2634 asks: Doesn't the Florida Supreme Court have the jurisdiction to oversee the decisions by the secretary of state who won't allow the hand recounts in counties to continue? Alan Dershowitz: Clearly the Supreme Court of Florida has the last word on the interpretation of Florida law, and Florida law is internally inconsistent and self-contradictory. It provides for manual recounts and yet it vests discretion as to whether these votes should be counted in a political operative, the secretary of state. Moreover, this same political operative, who has herself been investigated for corruption, initially stopped the vote recount and then ruled that the recounted votes came in too late to be certified. The American public will not accept this kind of partisan gamesmanship. If Bush is declared president by his campaign cochair, despite the fact that he has received fewer votes in Florida and fewer votes nationally this will not be a legitimate presidency. The American public will not allow the wool to be pulled over its eyes by these kinds of transparent machinations. dockspin asks: In your opinion, did Judge Terry Lewis "pass the buck" when supporting Kathleen Harris's decision to disallow any further votes to count, knowing full well the matter would go before the Florida Supreme Court regardless? And as a follow up, would the Florida Supreme Court have ruled the recounts could continue, unless they knew in a future ruling they would allow them to count? Alan Dershowitz: I think Judge Lewis was dead wrong in ruling that Florida law permits the secretary of state to exercise discretion and reject hand-counted ballots without knowing whether such ballots would or would not affect the outcome of the election. Florida law clearly provides that one element in the exercise of discretion is whether the uncounted ballots could influence its outcome. Putting aside the law, how can any rational person believe that the campaign cochair of the Bush campaign could exercise honest and objective discretion in deciding whether her candidate or her candidate's opponent should win the election. As Stalin once said, it's not the votes that count, it's the person who counts the votes. Stalin would be proud of Kathleen Harris, the Republican "apperochnick" who is doing the bidding of the Republican campaign and apparently getting away with it. The difference is that Judge Lewis, a Democrat, did not act as a Democrat, whereas Harris has always acted as a Republican and as somebody who will personally benefit from her own decision. She not only has her thumb on the scales of justice, she has her rear end on the scales of justice, and that's not justice. I must add here that I am not only a Gore supporter, but I am also a lawyer on behalf of voters in Palm Beach County, so lest anybody take my views as those of an objective observer, you should understand where I'm coming from. But I'm not nearly as biased as the secretary of state since I have no official position in the Gore campaign and don't stand to benefit directly or financially from his election. Court TV: Hold on...we have an update...the Florida Supreme Court has directed Katherine Harris NOT to certify the election results tomorrow. Alan Dershowitz: We have not yet seen the order but apparently the state Supreme Court has just now ordered the secretary of state not to certify the election. This seems to at least temporarily overrule Judge Lewis's overwhelmingly mistaken order and return the status quo to what it was before that order. Court TV: The state Supreme Court will hear legal arguments on Monday. Alan Dershowitz: The game of judicial ping pong proceeds... Court TV: Let's take another question... jaimewool asks: Mr. Dershowitz, if the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the manual hand counts could proceed, does it not stand to reason that the justices' intentions were for the results of these counts not to be ignored, especially with the margin so close? Alan Dershowitz: That does sound like it suggests the Supreme Court wants to first learn what the results are of the hand count, and it does suggest that Judge Lewis's opinion was inconsistent with that of the Supreme Court. VoraciousOne asks: Why didn't Gore immediately request a hand recount of all Florida counties the day after the election. Basis: such an extraordinarily close count. By only counting those states that had overwhelming Democratic majorities he lost the moral high ground and now makes it much harder for the courts to find for his side, no? Alan Dershowitz: It's traditional that candidates seek recounts in counties where they believe there has been a mistake. Palm Beach County was rife with problems. It was the burden of the Bush campaign to seek recounts in counties where they believe a problem exists. In any event, Gore has been more than magnanimous in offering the Bush campaign a statewide manual recount, even though they waived their right to seek it. I suspect that we may see the Bush campaign accept that offer now, especially if the recounting in Democratic counties shows Gore ahead. I suspect that the Bush people in Texas are taking the champagne out of the refrigerator and waiting before they start their celebration... it isn't over yet. jeezlepeezle asks: How many judges are on the Florida Supreme Court? And are they appointed? If so, by whom? mysteryfella_2000 asks: What is the political mix of the Florida Supreme Court? Alan Dershowitz: The Supreme Court of Florida consists of judges appointed by the governor. Most of them were appointed by Democratic governors, but they are obliged not to vote on the basis of their politics. Judge Lewis, a Democrat, not only voted in favor of the Republicans, but he did it by twisting the law to favor the Republicans. I haven't heard anybody on the Republican side complaining about Lewis being a Democrat. Moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court, which may eventually get to resolve this entire matter consists of seven Republicans and two Democrats. VoraciousOne asks: Can't the Supreme Court order recounts of all counties? Wouldn't that be the fair and nonpartisan thing to do? Alan Dershowitz: The Supreme Court may or may not have the authority to order recounts in all the counties because the Republicans waived the right to seek such recounts but if both campaigns agree that that is an acceptable resolution, I suspect the court will figure out a way of validating that agreement without regard to what the law says. jwelch11 asks: Will the election be decided in the courts? Alan Dershowitz: The courts will decide how the will of the voters is best reflected. The alternative to having the election decided by judges is to have it decided by Secretary of State Harris, who was the cochair of the Bush campaign. Court TV: Here's a follow-up to your comment about Judge Harris twisting the law in favor of Republicans... 1shields asks: How did Judge Lewis twist the law? Alan Dershowitz: By ruling that Harris had properly exercised her discretion before one of the key elements in the proper elements of discretion could possibly be known, namely whether the hand-counted votes could possibly determine the outcome of the election. He also failed to note that the primary reason for the delay in hand recounting was Harris's unlawful order to Palm Beach county to stop counting. The newest definition of chutzpah has to be a political functionary ordering a county to stop counting and then telling them that they're too late in submitting the unrecounted votes. That now replaces the previous definition of chutzpah which was George Bush complaining about the accuracy of hand-counting in Florida after signing and supporting a hand recount bill in Texas. Court TV: I know you've got to run. Any closing thoughts? Alan Dershowitz: Stay tuned to Court TV and this Web site 'cause it ain't over yet and it doesn't look like it will be over at least until early next week. See you soon.