Welcome to BrainStuff, a production of I Heart Radio.

Hey Brain Stuff, Lauren Bogobolbaum here.

Last month, we ran an episode about the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

and some of her historic concurring opinions during the 27 years that she sat on the highest

court of the United States. Today we wanted to highlight a few cases in which Justice Ginsburg did not agree

with the majority opinion of the court because after all a dissenting opinion can be just as important.

First up, let's look at the case of Bush versus Gore

from the year 2000.

Anyone old enough to remember the 2000 presidential election

probably shutters at the phrase hanging

Chad.

Referring to an incompletely punched paper ballot, the figure of speech became a main

staple of news headlines and late night TV monologues for months.

It all started in the state of Florida, where it was reported that Republican presidential candidate George W Bush

had beat Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore by just 1,784 votes.

Because the margin was so slim, just 0.01%, state law required an automatic machine recount, which shrunk Bush's lead to just

327 votes.

When the margin is that tiny, Florida law allows candidates to request a manual recount, which is just what Gore did in the four counties that traditionally voted Democrat, Volusha, Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade.

The problem was was the counties were given seven days to

certify their election returns to the Secretary of State and they were

concerned that they wouldn't make the deadline. Three counties missed the deadline entirely,

Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade.

...