Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has plenty of time to reflect on her career these days. Out of all the cases she heard during her 25-year tenure on the Supreme Court, the case she questions is Bush v. Gore.
The Supreme Court heard the case and essentially decided the 2000 presidential election by ending the Florida recount. O'Connor believes the Supreme Court "probably added to the problem" by hearing the case, according to the Chicago Tribune.
"[The Supreme Court] took the case and decided it at a time when it was still a big issue," O'Connor said. "Maybe the court should have said, 'We're not going to take it, goodbye.'"
O'Connor added that the case riled up the public and stained the court's prestige.
The 2000 presidential election in Florida was incredibly close between Republican candidate George W. Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore. Florida initially declared Bush the winner, but Democrats demanded a vote recount.
The case quickly made it to the Supreme Court, and the court ruled in favor of Bush. The court's 5-4 vote stopped any further recounts in Florida, which allowed Bush to remain the winner of the state's electorate votes. Winning Florida gave Bush 271 total electorate votes, and he won the U.S. presidency.
Republican President Ronald Regan appointed O'Connor in 1981 to the Supreme Court. She usually voted conservatively, although occasionally she provided a swing vote. She sided with Bush in Bush v. Gore.
O'Connor, now 83, retired in 2006 from the Supreme Court.
