Elevated to the forefront.

Spotlight shines on Florida Supreme Court

"Please understand because of the presidential election, it is not possible to return all phone calls." --part of the post-election message on Supreme Court Director of Public Information Craig Waters' voice mail.

On November 29, a man upset over the contentious general election recounting in Florida drove his motorhome to Tallahassee, plastered the left side with protest signs, and spent the day circling, the Supreme Court. Nervous security officers ran a check on the out-of-state license plate as a precaution.

On November 20 and 21, when the court held oral arguments on the emergency appeal on whether or when ballots should be recounted and then issued its opinion, a couple hundred protesters waved signs outside the Supreme Court building. Probably the most colorful were a man and a woman in red-sequined outfits, complete with red, white and blue streamers in their hair. One played a banjo, the other an accordion as they leafed through a flip chart presenting their argument that the courts should not intervene in the vote count. Another man dressed up as Jesus Christ and carried a cross.

"It has been a surreal experience," said court spokesman Waters, who found himself vaulted to international fame, as the post-election vote-counting dispute between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George Bush engulfed the court.

But while the details and surroundings frequently ranged from the bizarre to the ludicrous, the court itself earned high marks for justices' preparedness and for handling perhaps its most important case ever. The public and media were also impressed that filings and rulings were instantly available on the court's website and that proceedings were televised using the court's existing system, from which its oral argument hearing was broadcast to a spellbound nation and around the world.

"The people saw the process and as a result trusted the process more," Waters said. "There are some who are unhappy with the outcome, but seeing the process eliminated a lot of misunderstanding with the outcome."

Waters said he met with media representatives about televising the court's session, and they were surprised to find the court already wired, with its own cameras, and all they had to do was tap into the existing system.

"We've been broadcasting everything live since 1997, and we've never had an experience where we thought our broadcast detracted from the dignity of the court," Waters said.

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