IAMI - Two of Harvard Law School's leading lights, Laurence H. Tribe and Alan Dershowitz, were in federal court yesterday, arguing that the hand count of votes now underway in four Florida counties should continue unimpeded.
Their side won. A federal judge refused George W. Bush's request to halt the count. But in the process, the styles and temperaments of these two courtroom celebrities were on full display.
Tribe was invited by Al Gore's campaign to present their side of the case. Dershowitz's presence was more of a surprise - though this is very much his territory, where legal controversy and media maelstrom meet. He represented seven West Palm Beach County voters who felt their votes had been discounted.
Tribe told the federal judge that the Florida recount system was perhaps imperfect but was the best way to make sure the will of the voters is respected.
Dershowitz, meanwhile, told the court that the state was inviting a web of legal entanglement if it refused to let the hand count go on. Bush's lead lawyer Theodore Olsen, said the legal debate could stretch on for weeks, adding that Dershowitz alone would file ''numerous'' lawsuits.
Tribe, one of the nation's foremost constitutional theorists, told US District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks that whatever electoral problems Florida has, they are not so serious that voters here are being denied constitutional rights. His arguments appeared to convince the judge.
The differences between Tribe and Dershowitz became especially evident when the two faced the media outside the courthouse. Tribe said that Florida's electoral law has an ''inherent conflict'' that pits the efficiency of the process against the pursuit of accuracy.
Minutes later, Dershowitz faced the cameras, accusing Bush of ''chutzpah'' and calling him a ''hypocrite squared'' for arguing that Florida's electoral rules should be overridden when GOP philosophy generally supports state rights.
While most of those on Gore's side hope that this battle over the presidency ends with this week's hand counts, Dershowitz was pessimistic.
''A hand count is the first step but perhaps not the last step,'' he said.
