weber. >> they are of course very pleased and gratified. >> reporter: the five justices in the majority, rehnquist, scalia, sandra day o'connor. the four in the minority were ginsburg, briar, stevens and sutter. in his blistering decent justice stevens called the bush legal appeal a federal assault on the laws of florida. quote one thing is certain, although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear, it's the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian as the rule of the law. as of an hour ago, aids to gore said he had no decision on what to do next. we talked to congresswoman loghner and asked her to assume they ruled for gore. >> i believe that he will abide by the supreme court, he said he would and he should. >> reporter: in 2003, the united states supreme court handed down one of its most significant rulings on race in a generation. and again justice sandra day o'conner voted between the polar end of the court. the ruling said that affirmative action is constitutional and that the nation's public colleges and universities can use race as a consideration