 A number of subsequent articles have characterized the decision as damaging the reputation of the court, increasing the view of judges as partisan, and decreasing Americans' trust in the integrity of elections.Part of the reason recounts could not be completed was the various stoppages ordered by the various branches and levels of the judiciary, most notably the Supreme Court itself.Opponents argued that it was improper for the Court (by the same five Justices who joined the "per curiam" opinion) to grant a stay that preliminarily stopped the recounts based on Bush's likelihood of success on the merits and the possible of irreparable injury to Bush.