Page "Bush v. Gore" Paragraph 42

The dissent of Justice Stevens was criticized by George Mason University School of Law Professor Nelson Lund.

Lund said: Conversely, the majority opinion was criticized by Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz, who wrote: Some critics of the decision argue that the majority seemed to seek refuge from their own logic in the following sentence in the majority opinion: " Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities.

" The Court's defenders argued that this was a reasonable precaution against the possibility that the decision might be read over-broadly, arguing that in the short time available it would not be appropriate to attempt to craft language spelling out in greater detail how to apply the holding to other cases.

Critics, however, interpreted the sentence as stating that the case did not set precedent in any way and could not be used to justify any future court decision, and some suggested that this was evidence the majority realized its holding was untenable.

Regardless of whether the majority intended the decision to be precedential, it has been cited by several federal courts in election cases.