 Critics would later point out that the court had denied certiorari on equal protection grounds when Bush first sought Supreme Court review.Law clerks who worked for Kennedy and O'Connor at the time would later state their belief that the justices settled on equal protection as grounds for their decision, rather than Article II, because they thought it would seem more fair.The Court ruled 5–4 that no constitutionally valid recount could be completed by a December 12 "safe harbor" deadline.