The Tallahassee judge who presided over lawsuits filed by the Gore campaign and some Florida counties seeking an extension to perform vote recounts is a murder-mystery-writing, lunchtime "hoop-shooting" moderate who recently declared a Florida abortion law unconstitutional.
Mr Terry P. Lewis, a Leon County Circuit judge, is best known for decisions blocking a state law requiring that parents be notified before their under-age daughter can receive an abortion.
He issued a temporary injunction against the law and last May ruled it was unconstitutional because it thwarted young girls' privacy rights.
Mr Lewis, who was first elected a county judge in 1988 and was named to a new circuit judge seat in 1998 by Governor Lawton Chiles, a Democrat, published a murder mystery in 1997, set in Tallahassee, called Conflict Of Interest.
"The Gore people would be pleased having him because it means the door's not shut," an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer said.
The judge's ruling said: "I find that the county canvassing board must certify and file what elections returns they have by the statutory deadline of 5 p.m."