Federal Judge Hammers Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court's handling of the presidential election dispute has severely damaged Americans' faith in the nation's judicial and political systems, a federal judge says.

Judge Nathaniel Jones, of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, told The Cincinnati Post in an interview published Thursday that he fears citizens' confidence in their government - particularly the courts - has been "painfully and deeply wounded."

Jones said the damage could take years to repair.

Judges rarely publicly take issue with the U.S. Supreme Court. Jones said he felt compelled to speak out because he was so troubled by the high court's actions in the contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore and the potential long-term effects of those actions.

The high court's actions also leave lingering questions about the legitimacy of Bush's election, Jones said.

By "bending the rules" to halt a hand recount of ballots in Florida authorized by the state's highest court, the U.S. Supreme Court scuttled a final tabulation that would have either upheld Bush's narrow Florida victory or overturned it in Gore's favor, Jones said.

"The judicial overreaching that has manifested itself in this whole matter is a terrible blow to the institution of the court and to public confidence in it," the judge said.

Judge Jones    (fac.org)SIZE>

Jones said there was no equal protection question.

"It was manufactured," he said.

Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice Clarence Thomas both have said that politics did not enter into the court's overall decision-making.

President Carter, a Democrat, appointed Jones to the appeals court in 1979.