What landmark Supreme Court case ruled that the Supreme Court could overrule a state court's decisions on state laws (in regards to Election 2000)?

• A. Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier
• B. Tinker v. Des Moines
• C. United States v. Nixon
• D. Bush v. Gore

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is that the Supreme Court has the power to review state court decisions when constitutional issues are involved in a federal matter, such as a presidential election. In Bush v. Gore, the Court stepped in during the 2000 election because the Florida recount was being conducted under state rules, but the Court found problems that touched on the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, different counties counted ballots in different ways, which could lead to unequal treatment of voters. The Court ruled that this lack of a uniform standard violated constitutional guarantees, and because there wasn’t enough time to implement a constitutionally sound method of recounting before electoral votes had to be cast, it halted the recount. This decision demonstrates how the Supreme Court can intervene in state court rulings when those rulings raise federal constitutional questions and affect the outcome of a national election.

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier is about student speech in school-sponsored activities; Tinker v. Des Moines concerns student free speech rights in schools; United States v. Nixon deals with executive privilege in a different context (Watergate).