Page "Bush v. Gore" Paragraph 40

Part of the reason recounts could not be completed was the various stoppages ordered by the various branches and levels of the judiciary, most notably the Supreme Court itself.

Opponents argued that it was improper for the Court ( by the same five Justices who joined the per curiam opinion ) to grant a stay that preliminarily stopped the recounts based on the possibility of irreparable injury and success on the merits.

Supporters of the stay — such as Charles Fried — contend that the validity of the stay was vindicated by the ultimate decision on the merits and that the only thing that the stay prevented was a recount " being done in an unconstitutional way.