All language subtitles for First.Monday.in.October.1981.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG2_English

Y
e
s, that's right. The whole
court is in turmoil.

C
o
uldn't have happened at a more
inconvenient time.

N
o, Dan doesn't know.

T
h
a
t's why I'm calling you. I've
got to get through to him right
away.

J
ust a moment.

E
x
c
use me, Mr. Chief Justice. This
is the file you asked for.

T
h
a
nk God I caught you, Christine.
Any idea where he went?

W
h
at makes you think I'd know
where he is?

D
an?

D
an?

No,
he's not here.

I
j
ust walked through the door, CJ.

Where have you been?

Europe, as usual.

S
t
a
nley left some instructions
that involve Dan.

A
nd I've gotta find him.

H
e
surprised the hell out of me in
Brussels.

He sent me a postcard.

T
h
e only part I can make out is
"Dear Christine."

A
t
l
east I think that's "Dear." You
know what his handwriting is
like.

T
h
en there's something here about
climbing a mountain.

D
i
d
he happen to mention which
mountain?

See that peak straight ahead?

That's where we'll be
tomorrow at this time.

Grab a couple
of lungs full of this.

Pity the poor bastards
in the cities who don't get
to taste real air anymore.

C
an we take a rest?

Another 30 minutes.

I know a great place
for lunch.

J
u
st hold on, I'm looking for it.

D
. Snow." Would that be it?

CJ: That's it.

M
r

D
o
you have a number there where
we could call you back?

I
do. I do indeed.

A
r
ea code 202, 252-3271.

He
llo. Do you read? Over.

Yes, I read you.

Press the button to talk.

The little one on the top.
With your thumb, there.

H
e
l
lo? Hello? Come in, please.
Come in, please.

D
an.

P
a tching you through on another channel.

Go ahead, Highport.

CJ: Do you hear me there? Hello?

D
a
n Snow here. Is that you, CJ?

W
e
need you back here, Dan.

C
o
uldn't hear that. Say it again,
will you, CJ?

S
t anley Morehead died this morning.

Are you still there, Dan?

I
s ay Stanley Morehead died this morning.

I

You gotta press to talk.

H
eard you, CJ.

T
ell Alice I'm sorry.

H
o
w fast can you get back here?

You see, Stanley asked if...

H
ello?

H
ello?

H
ello?

H
ello? Hello, Jeff?

Up here
these CB patches pick up
a lot of DX noise.

You want me to try
getting him again?

No,
that's
okay. We'll be getting downhill.

T
h
ou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies.

T
hou anointest my head with oil.

"My cup runneth over.

"Surely
goodnes
s and mercy shall follow me

a
ll the days of my life

a
nd I will dwell in the house of
the Lord for ever."

I don't really know...

W
h
e
n Stanley left instructions
that he wanted me to, uh,

w
h
at do you call it... Say a few
words.

I was surprised.

M
r

a
n
d
I guess it's only natural that
we keep right on disagreeing.

I
k
now seven other men who could
do this better,

b
u
t I'm not about to file a
dissenting opinion.

Stanley Morehead was
a gentleman of honest mind.

Y
o
u can't say that about many men
in this city

in this century.

S
t
a
nley and I were like a pair of
flying buttresses.

L
e
aning against opposite sides of
a Gothic cathedral

w
e
helped keep the roof from
caving in.

I
f
we'd both been on the same side
all the time,

w
e
might have pushed the building
over.

Yo
u
do
n't have to agree with a man in
order to respect him.

S
t
anley and I had one argument
over and over again.

I
n
ever won. I never could win.

H
e used to ask me,

W
h
at in God's name is the
practical use of mountain
climbing?"

O
ne time I said to him,

"W
el
l,
on a mountaintop, maybe you're
a little bit closer to God."

He
laughed
and
said, "Dan, what the hell do
you know about God?"

I
do know this.

M
r
. Justice Stanley Morehead is
not in any box

a
b
out to be covered by earth.

H
e

Fire!

R
e
ady. Aim.

Fire!

Ready...

A
i
m... Fire!

R
e
ady... Present arms!

C
H
R
ISTINE: I think we should have
hired a limousine, like the
others.

D
A
N: Nonsense. The fresh air will
do you good.

Alice looked awful.
Y
ou know what burns me?

To
da
y'
s Starbrushed off Stanley's
whole life with two inches.

A
n
d
printed two full pages of
smart-ass speculation about his
replacement.

D
A
N: I'll bet it's a surprise.
Somebody nobody thought of.

CHRISTINE: She doesn't have
many close friends.

D
A
N
: It's always a surprise.
Especially for the guy who gets
capped.

C
H
R
ISTINE: Maybe I'll plan a small
dinner party for her after we
get settled.

D
A
N
: When the President gave me
the nod, I was so surprised

I couldn't talk for a week.

CHRISTINE: I don't think
I could stand

one of those terrible teas
with all those wives.

C
ould be anybody.

A
lot of good men around.

A
lot of lousy ones, too.

If I were Alice,
I'd go to Europe.

The warm part.

H
ow was Europe?

Wet.

How was your mountain?

H
igh.

Y
o
u
have any idea who's going to be
appointed?

T
o what?

T
he court.

I
n
ever try to second-guess a
president.

Man moves into
the White House,

you have no idea
what happens to his mind.

I just hope he has
an active membership
card in the human race.

Wa
l
do. Hi, Ted.

Al
wa
ys
feels like the first day of
school, doesn't it?

Hope I never graduate.

I
do
n't know what we'd do without
you, Dan.

M
o
rning, Radabaugh. Anything
happen?

Everything that's happened
is on your desk,
Mr. Justice Snow.

S
till got the same cold?

Sinus.

D
AN: Who's there?

Mason Woods, sir.

May I come in, sir?

Of
course
you
can come in. What the hell do
you think you're here for?

Thank you, sir.

And you don't have to knock.

I
t

Yes, sir.

I

You're
too goddamn polite.

S
t
o
p being scared of me, Mason.
You got the job.

Yes,
sir.

Uh, would you care
for some tea, Mr. Justice,
or a scotch?

M
a
ybe I'd better have both.

N
o
, I don't wanna overdo it.
Forget the tea.

U
m
, now this supports your
position

o
n Abbot vs. Omnitech.

Forget Omnitech.

B
u
t that's at the top of the
order list.

It's gonna get struck.

W
hy?

Because my brave brethren
on the court

are too chicken-hearted
to hear it, that's why.

W
h
e
n I'm getting ripped off,
Mason, I want to know who's
doing the ripping.

H
o
w
much can these multinational
monsters get away with?

I
d
on't know, and neither do you.

B
e
c
ause they keep hiding behind
all those TV commercials

saying how goddamn holy
they are.

Even the CJ is scared to
hear Omnitech.

He says,
"It's like telling God

"you want to
examine the books."

Peace, up to a point.

I
t
e
ll you, Mason. The most
dangerous thing in the world is
to be cautious.

P
e
o
ple are always falling down the
ones who are afraid they'll
trip over something.

Take a chance.
Y
es, sir.

And don't always
agree with me.

If you think I'm wrong
and don't say so,

then what
the hell good are ya?

I like law clerks
who argue with me.
Y
es, sir.

N
o, sir.

I
m
ean I'll try to do that, sir.

N
ot to do that, sir. What's
this?

This is Collins vs. California.

I
t
's a kinky one that came up
from the Ninth Circuit.

T
h
e
Berkeley student who wore a
T-shirt that said, "Fuck the
White House."

Did he
have his pants off?

It doesn't say.

W
e
ll then, I don't see any clear
and present danger

t
h
at he intended to implement the
opinion of his T-shirt.

Well, the Ninth Circuit
held it was "offensive
to the public sensibility."

J
u
st being offensive is not an
offense.

One man's
pornography may be another
man's poetry. Yes, sir.

Y
e
s, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

L
a
dy purity, speaking from the
cloisters of California.

F
ree speech is not ipso facto
filthy speech.

D
irt is a splendid environment
for earthworms,

b
ut it is a grave for the human
mind."

I
wi
sh to hell she didn't write so
goddamn well!

Y
o
u see, Mason? That's what this
court is for.

T
o
restrain the Ruth Loomises of
the world.

Sir, I found this opinion
on surveillance.

But you won't
have to read it.

W
hy not?

You wrote it.

W
ell, read it to me.

I
mi
ght have forgotten it or
changed my mind.

"When God created the world,

h
e did it alone, in private. All
by himself.

"No monitors,
no hidden microphones.

"He made it
the way he wanted it.

"But what if someone
had invaded God's privacy?

"Would he have put
the world together
the same way?

"I doubt it.
He would've made it
a popular world.

B
O
TH: "And the Garden of Eden
would have turned out

l
ike Las Vegas or 42nd Street."

Would you like
to take any calls, sir?

U
h
, Ms. Radabaugh will get that.

No, she won't.

Chambers of
Mr. Justice Snow.

O
h.

Yes, Mrs. Snow.

It's your wife
but she doesn't want
to bother you.

Y
o
u
're not bothering me. You're
interrupting me, but you're not
bothering me.

H
o w should I seat them this evening?

I
d
on't care how you seat 'em. Try
chairs.

H
ello? Hello?

What happened to Radabaugh?

She left early.

S
inus?

She looked terrible.

R
a
dabaugh's been with me for 23
years,

and she always looks terrible.

How do you do that, sir?
D
o what?

Well, you reach in there
and find exactly
what you're looking for.

In the middle of all that...
All that...
M
ess?

T
o
y
ou it's a mess. To me, it's a
wilderness of free association.

Don't ever straighten up
my desk, Mason.

I'd never be able
to find anything.

Always been suspicious
of neatness.

If there's nothing on top
of a man's desk,

he's probably shoved
all the clutter into
the drawers.

A
n
d
if his drawers are empty, what
the hell does he need a desk
for?

M
ay I come in, Dan? Sure,
CJ.

H
o
w are you, Mr. Chief Justice?

Uh, I'm not sure.

M
i
nd if I lie down on your couch?

M
a
s
on, see if those T-shirts are
available on the open market.

I

What T-shirts?

None of your goddamn business.

Do I ask you
about your
underwear?

How come your couches are
much more comfortable
than mine?

Y
ou know something, CJ?

M
a
ybe I'll give you that couch

a
s a going-away present.

Who's going away?

T
h
i
nk of how many people would
bust a gut with joy if I
retired.

Nah, you wouldn't do that
to me, Dan.

Oh

I

Y
eah. Hmm.

W
h
o's the President going to pick?

He's already been appointed?

W
ho is he?

Mr. Justice Snow,
I'm gonna have to ask you
to rephrase that question.

A woman.

H
e picked a woman.

G
reat!

Good for him. It'll be fun.

W
h
o is it? Who is she? Who? Who?

The President has just
sent up to the Senate
Judiciary Committee

the name of Judge
Ruth Hagador Loomis,

of the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals.

G
e
t off my couch. I have to lie
down.

N
o
w... Now, Dan.

Y
o
u're joking. It's a joke. It's
a joke, isn't it?

The President, I am told,
thinks he has made

a
great,
progressive step in the history
of mankind.

R
u
t
h Loomis? The mother superior
of Orange County?

W
h
a
t goes through a man's head
when he makes an appointment
like that?

G
u
ess he was trying to be
evenhanded.

President of all the people.

T
h
e Senate'll never go for it.
Will they? Will they?

Forget it.

W
here's Ms. Radabaugh?

C
h
ambers of Mr. Justice Snow.

I
t

N
o
c
omment from Mr. Justice Snow at
this time.

Y
o
u're better than Ms. Radabaugh.

The President
wants a woman on the court,
why not pick Ms. Radabaugh.

She'd be perfect.
She'd never show
up.

Jeff, why in God's name
do I get a sinking feeling
in my gut every time

I think about
that woman sitting
on this court?

It's not because
she's a woman.

I like women.
My wife's a woman.

T
h
e bench will smell better with
a little perfume on it.

But Ruth Loomis...

How can you just let it ring?

T
e
l
ephone has no constitutional
right to be answered.

D
o
n
't pay any attention to it.
It'll go away.

S
ee?

I
hear she plays tennis.

Hitler played the harmonica.

Oh,
she may not be so bad.

S
he's young.

W
e
c
ould use some young blood
around here.

A
nd she isn't stupid.

Fix yourself a drink.

I
just might do that.

H
e
re she is now. Come in.

I
s it true?

J
a
ck Anderson's on the phone.

W
o
uld either of you care to say
anything to him?

Y
e
s
. Ask him where I'm spending my
vacation next summer.

I
d
on't know, but he probably does.

I'll
just
tell
him neither of you is available
for comment.

H
o
w does a newspaperman like Jack
Anderson

f
i
nd out what happens in the Oval
Office so fast?

Simple. He's got a friend
in the Soviet embassy.

And I'm 10 minutes late.

O
n
ly one thing, Dan. Before you
consider resigning.

R
e
signing? Who the hell's gonna
resign?

You think
I'd leave you here alone
and get sprayed down

by the Lysol lady
of Orange County?

And if that holy junta
at the White House

p
i
cked her to replace Stanley
Morehead,

w
h
o
in God's name do you suppose
they'd send up to take my seat?

S
hirley Temple?

5-2.

B
I
L
L: Change sides. I'll let you
take the sun for a while.

Not bad
for a
beginner, am I?

Wh
en
ar
e you gonna let me take you
somplace where I can win?

Do
n'
t
you think a year is long enough
to be a practicing widow?

Seven months.
Don't rush me.

Am I on the list?

You're at the top.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCER: Judge Loomis, telephone.

Long distance call for Judge Loomis.

S
orry, Bill.

SENATOR: I'm sorry these proceedings are taking so much time

but we're breaking ground here.

And I trust the committee's questions

aren't embarrassing you, Judge Loomis.

I
d on't embarrass easily, Senator.

Judge Loomis?

Judge Loomis, about your interests and equities,

would they influence your decisions on the high court?

T
h
e financial statement in front of you is complete, Senator.

W
h en I was appointed to the Ninth Circuit,

I
d isposed of anything that might possibly raise

a
q uestion of conflict of interest.

T hank you.

But you were still married to a very active

and successful corporation lawyer.

W
a s I expected to dispose of him?

A
c cording to this FBI report,

y
o
u and your husband were partners in the law firm of Loomis and Loomis.

E
x
c use me, Senator. Why do you keep bringing up my husband?

W
h en I was appointed to the federal bench,

h
e took over the entire practice.

I
t was a tremendous burden on him.

I t's probably what killed him.

Did you ever represent Omnitech International or its chairman,

Donald Richards?

No, Senator.

You're quite sure about that?

R
UTH: Quite sure.

SENATOR: After you left, is it possible that the firm represented him?

I 'd have no knowledge of that.

A
n
d since your husband's death, you've had no contact with any member of that firm?

RUTH:
None. Oh, that's not quite true.

I
d
o play tennis once in a while with Bill Russell.

W illiam Russell.

H
e joined the firm after I went to the bench.

SENATOR: Do you ever discuss legal business with him?

N o, Senator.

Do you think perhaps,

you're a little too young, Judge Loomis,

t
o take these responsibilities on yourself?

As I recall,

M
r . Justice Snow was a year younger than I am

w
h en he was appointed to the court.

Do you feel your decisions on the High Court

might be influenced by the fact that...

Well, you're a woman?

I hope so.

U
h
, aren't a man's decisions influenced by the fact that he's a man?

For two centuries,
this court has expressed
men's opinions.

A
n
d perhaps it's time for the majority of the population

to
have
one voice in nine in the rulings of the Supreme Court.

SENATOR: Is the lady implying

that male justice is perverted?

R
U
T
H: Haven't we outgrown those fears about the periodic instability

o
f the female of the species?

E
g gs are not the seeds of insanity.

A
w oman can ovulate and think at the same time.

SENATOR: We're striving
to be objective.

Yes, but really,
what does sex have to do

w ith being a judge?

S
o mebody with the capacity to bear children

is gifted, not crippled.

A
u terus is like absolute pitch,

s
o me people have it, some don't.

Well, according to this fact sheet,

J
u dge Loomis has never had any children.

Y
e
s , but does the Constitution say that a Supreme Court Justice has to be a mother?

J
u
d ge Loomis, we don't mean to probe into your personal life...

Why
not? My entire life is public.

The FBI is wrong
in reporting to you
that I have no children.

I have hundreds.

W
e are the parents of our ideas,

and, uh, so my children,

i
n other words, my opinions, my decisions,

are the result of conception,

a
n d the delivery is sometimes painful.

Y
o u may not like my children.

Y
o u may find them ugly,

b
u t, by God, your ideas and mine

h
a ve equal rights to live together,

t
o grow, to change, even to die.

I
f there are no further questions,

t
h e committee will consider an executive session

w
h
e re we'll recommend to the full body of the Senate.

Thank you, Judge Loomis.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

T hank you, gentlemen.

Now let's check it
just once more.

Mr. Justice Carey
is now on this end.

T
hat's correct. Then Mr.
Justice Webb.

W
ebb. Mr. Justice Quincy.

T
hat's him. Mr. Justice
Snow.

T
hat's right. The CJ stays
in the center, of course.

Then Mr. Justice Halperin.
O
kay.

Mr. Justice Clewes.

T
hat's him. Mr. Justice
Thompson.

T
hat's right. And the new
chair for Justice Loomis

on this end.
T
hat's correct.

D
oes a lady need this?

We'll tell her
it's a wastebasket.

G
ood afternoon.

Welcome to Washington,
Justice Loomis.

T
hank you. Everything's
ready.

Great. Oh, is the phone in?

Ah, yes.
The man left an hour ago.

Hello?

R
e
ady for your coronation?

Bill?Y
es.

H
o
w did you get this number? I
don't even know it.

W
e
l l, I do. If it ever slips your mind, just give me a ring.

In the bedroom, please.

In the bedroom?

I'm talking to the bellman,
you idiot.

It's sweet of you to call.

I
j
u st wanted to be the first man in recorded history

t
o ask a Supreme Court Justice for a date.

So noted.
The clerk will put it
on the docket.

T hat'll take two years!

Not now that I'm in charge.

M
r. Agronsky?

W
henever you're ready.

Tape is rolling.

T
h
is is an historic day for the
nation

a
n
d for the Supreme Court of the
United States.

The court has been in session

s
i
nce the first Monday in October,

w
h
ich, according to the Judiciary
Act of 1789,

m
a
rks the start of a new term
each year.

N
o camera has ever photographed

t
h e traditional robing ceremony

i
n the sanctum sanctorum of the court,

a
n d none is there today.

S
i nce the death of Justice Stanley Morehead,

t
h is has been an eight-man court,

w
h ich as Justice Daniel Snow has pointed out,

r
e sembles a four-man basketball team.

T
o day the vacancy has been filled.

B
u t this still remains an eight-man court.

Well, where is she?

M
a
y
be we ought to sound the
warning buzzer a little sooner.

I
s
uppose she has things to do
that we don't.

A
f
t
er all, I don't have anything
to do with my hair.

AGRONSKY: This is
an historic occasion.

Like the Jesuits going coed.

Suppose she'll wanna hang
chintz curtains everywhere?

I hate chintz.

W
h
y
am I nervous? She's the one who
should be nervous.

Now, gentlemen,
things are not
going to be any
different

f
r
o
m the way they've been every
two minutes to 10 in the
history of the court.

N
o
w
we've got to think of her
exactly as one of the brothers.

Good morning.

J
ustice Loomis, welcome.

W
elcome to the court. Thank
you.

Good morning.
G
ood morning, ma'am.

Thank you
for the lovely roses.

Uh...

Y
o
u don't send me roses anymore,
CJ.

I
t
's 9:58, gentlemen and Madam
Justice.

We shake hands
like this every day.

E
v
ery morning just before we take
the bench.

L
i
ke nine boxers coming in to a
ring.

W
e
s
hake hands before we knock each
other out.

T
h
e
honorable, the Chief Justice
and Associate Justices

o
f
the Supreme Court of the United
States.

O yez, oyez, oyez.

A
l l persons having business

b
e
f ore the honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States

a
r e admonished to draw near and give their attention,

for the Court is now sitting.

G
o d save the United States and this honorable Court.

CJ: Today's orders
o f the Court

h
a
v e been certified by the Chief Justice filed with the clerk

a
n d will not be announced orally.

P
r
obably the peak of every
lawyer's career

i
s
t
hat moment when he is presented
and accredited to plead

before the highest court
in the land.

O
n
ly lawyers ever plead in that
hallowed chamber.

B
u
t today, all eyes are focused on the court's newest newcomer

w
h
o has just received confirmation from the Senate of the United States.

C
o
u rt watchers will be fascinated in the weeks and months ahead

b
y
t he figure in the leather chair farthest to the left

of the Chief Justice.

H
o w will this feminine presence

a
f fect what for two centuries

h
a s been an all-male preserve?

Because so many states

have accepted pornography
as a way of life

d
o
es not mean that we are willing

to compromise our values

i
n
the sovereign state of Nebraska.

Ergo, I beseech this
distinguished body,

i
n
its infinite and scholarly
wisdom,

t
o
uphold exalted standards of
morality

w
h
ich this lofty court so
fervently advocates.

And how rare it is
to find judicial minds

so attuned to the higher
reaches of the spirit.

So understanding
of the basic values

we so dearly cherish.

S
o
incredibly sensitive to the
deep strains of decency

which constitute
the lapping tidewaters

of our heritage.

The state of Nebraska

contends that
Herbert G. Maloney,

knowing and willfully,

perpetrated
an obscene and foul...

Your time is up.

May I be permitted...
C
J: No.

An
y questions, gentlemen?

M
adam Justice?

I get the impression
that the state of Nebraska

would like to see this film
confiscated, burned,

and the ashes
sent into space.
Is that the idea?

If the court so recommended.

Is it your contention
that the Constitution

gives this court
any such power?

This court is the judge
of its own power.

Un
ti
l
we actually examine the film in
question, I think that...

M
ay it please the court.

I
r
e
spectfully submit that my
client's rights under the First
Amendment...

T
h
e
First Amendment doesn't give
anybody the right

t
o
commit acts which are harmful
to the public good.

B
u
t this is an educational film.

A
m
ajor documentary, a work of art.

How can we judge that
until we've seen it.

D
o
any of the justices object,

b
esides Justice Snow?

I
t
hink it's essential that we see
the film.

A
l
l
right then. The clerk will
schedule a showing of the film

a
t
some future date which is not
in conflict

w
i
th the schedule already on the
calendar.

NARRATOR: If you saw Lois
walking along

in the sunshine of Beverly Hills,

y
o u might think she was just a healthy, ordinary girl.

But Lois has a problem.

L
i ke the alcoholic who cannot stop with one drink,

like the compulsive eater

w
h o must consume one dessert after another,

L
o is can never be satisfied,

c
a n never get enough of what she craves.

Why isn't
Mr. Justice Snow here?

H
e
never comes to these showings.

NARRATOR: The average young woman wants one man,

but Lois is insatiable.

H
ave we missed much?

The lady's just
getting started.

You guys get over there.

A
nd shut the door.

NARRATOR:
We asked a distinguished physician

t
o give his opinion of Lois' condition.

H
e has asked that his name be withheld

b
e cause of his high standing in the medical profession.

D
r . X, from the point of view of a man of science,

what can be done for Lois?

T
h is sort of affliction is difficult to treat.

L
e t's look at the other sex as Lois sees them.

Oh, let's not.

NARRATOR:
Can Lois ever be cured?

Or is she doomed to a life

o
f ever-increasing frustration?

I
d
on't know about Lois, but I'm
cured.

H
aven't we seen enough?

NARRATOR: During the next hour

we'll try to show you...

No, I don't think so.

Projectionist,
stop the film, please.

Please.

Thank you. Does anyone object?

No.
N
ot me.

Mr. Chief Justice,
are you stopping the film

because there's a woman
in the room?

N
o

You think I'm offended?
Of course I'm offended,

but that's no reason
to stop the film, is it?

CJ,
just a moment, please.

M
a
dam Justice Loomis, as a man,

I am somewhat embarrassed
that you have to sit here
and watch this thing.

I
certain
ly can understand how Harold
feels.

I
w
o
uldn't want to sit through it
with my wife

o
r
a
rrange a special showing for
Mother's Day.

B
u
t
your wife and your mother
haven't been appointed to this
court.

T
i
me is the point, gentlemen and
Madam Justice.

A
n
d we have a responsibility not
to waste it.

I
h
ave seen enough to make my
decision.

J
U
DGES: Me, too. Yes.

I
d
o apologize, Justice Loomis.

Why?

Something is very wrong here.

You're all so polite to me.

I'm not being
too outspoken, am I?

N
o
. No.

N
o

R
a
ise hell, if you want to.

You may be sorry
you said that.

Actually, I do
have one question.
O
h.

How can Mr. Justice Snow
pass judgment on something

without even seeing it?

Hasn't he virtually
disqualified himself
on Maloney?

W
o
u
ld you like to suggest that to
Justice Snow?

I
d
o
n't think that's one of my
privileges. Isn't it yours?

Well, yes, I suppose it is.

And, Mr. Chief Justice,
I'd like to examine
the rest of the film.

If you don't mind.

Just to see if there's
a shred of redeeming
social or artistic
value.

Project
ionist.
Would you continue the film,
please?

Th
ank you.

5
:30 will be fine.

Howdy, Ben.

G
o
od afternoon, Mr. Justice.

H
ow are you felling?

Just fine, thank you.
Just fine.

How's Esther?

B
etter and better.

G
ood.

T
he usual, Mr. Justice?

S
ure.

D
an.

Hi
, Waldo.

I
j
u
st want you to know I'm not
gonna support Madam's motion.

What kind of a motion
is she making?

O
h, I thought you knew.

Knew
what?

You
better get it from CJ.

We'll do this later, Ben.

Ye
s, sir.

Hi, Dan.
Missed you
at lunch.

W
hat's she up to? What's
who up to?

H
o
w many "she's" do we have on
the Court?

Oh, that. Well it's just
that a question came up.

Or more accurately,
a suggestion was made.
Y
eah?

W
e
ll, what it amounts to is, uh...

S
hould, uh...

S
h
ould attendance be obligatory

a
t
these obscenity screenings?

Who wasn't there besides me?

O
h, house was packed.

What's your beef?

W
ell, the lady wonders

whether a justice
who hasn't seen
any part of the film

hasn't in effect...

S
h
e wants me to disqualify myself

b
e
cause I won't go down there

a
n
d sit through that pile of
crap? Uh, well...

S
o
i
t's crap. What if it is crap?
That's not the point.

C
r
ap's got the right to be crap.

Drop the legal language, Dan.

Are you as Chief Justice

suggesting that I disqualify
myself from voting on Maloney?

N
o
. I'm merely suggesting that,
uh...

It's been suggested.

Where are you going?

I

N
ot roses.

And have a look
at US v. Albertson, 1954.

I
t
's in volume 348, US. Maybe 349.

I
s she in?

Oh, yes, sir,
Mr. Justice Snow.

U
h
, just hold on a second. Yes?

ROBINSON: Madam Justice, Mr. Justice Snow would like to see you.

H
e would. When?

He's here.

J
u
s
t check those references. I'll
get back to you. Thank you.

T
e
l
l Mr. Justice Snow I'll be
happy to see him in a minute.

She'll be happy to see you
in a moment, Mr. Justice.

T
hank you.

A
s
k
Mr. Justice Snow to come in,
Mr. Robinson.

You may go in, Mr. Justice.

T
hank you.

N
o
, no. Please, please. Don't get
up, don't get up.

Yo
u'
d
stand, Mr. Justice, if I came
to call on you in chambers.

O
h

I
c
a
n't tell you how grateful I am
to you for seeing me like this.

O
n no notice whatsoever.

It's my honor.
I
s it?

W
ell, I suppose it is.

S
ay...

T
hat's quite a desk.

A
nd so neat.

D
o
aircraft land here frequently?

What is it
that you wanted
to see me about?

N
o
thing earthshaking.

B
y
George, I was a little startled
to see

t
h
at you've got a male law clerk
out there.

Mr. Robinson?
He's not my law clerk.
He's my secretary.

W
ell. Well, well, well.

W
hat a generous gesture.

L
etting men into a field

p
r
eviously dominated by the other
sex.

I'm glad you're
in favor of men's lib.

S
ay, let's relax.

D
o
you feel like relaxing?

M
adam Justice,

I
h
o
pe you aren't finding our
national capital too dull

a
f
ter the grandeur of Disneyland.

You don't think much
of California, do you?

I
t
ry not to think of it at all.

Why don't you try climbing
some our mountains?

O
h
, I have, I have. I admire your
mountains.

I
t
's your valleys that make me
nervous.

N
ow, Madam Justice,

I
w
o
uld like your opinion on a
point of law

c
o
n
cerning that great American art
form, the motion picture.

Help yourself.

O
h, thank you.

N
o
w, I was wondering if by any
chance

y
o
u'd seen a film called, um...

The Naked Nymphomaniac.

T
hat's the one.

N
o
w
you probably didn't even notice
I wasn't there.

I
noticed.

O
h
, you did? Mmm.

Well...

Well...

I
w
onder if you found anything,

uh, unpleasant in the picture.

First of all,

I
s
ee no reason to overturn the
lower court.

A
n
y
one who'd seen that film would
realize that The Naked Nymphomaniac

is a total offense
against the public
sensibility.

It's sickening,
degrading, disgusting.

M
y
, my, my, my, my, my.

A
s bad as all that?

Now, I
wonder
if you can put your finger

o
n
exactly what it was that
offended you?

Was it the title?
Some particular word
in the title.

Naked", is that it?

W
h
at if they called it

T
h e Fully-Clothed Nymphomaniac?

O
r
m
aybe it was the other word that
bothered you.

Nym-pho-maniac."

S
upposing they called it The Naked Methodist,

o
r
N aked Daughter of the American Revolution?

Are you finished?

M
a
d
am Justice, I am a long way
from being finished,

bu
t
I'
ll pause briefly in case
there's something you'd like to
say.

Th
ank you.

Let me ask you
something.

Would you call
a female governor
a governess?

Is a woman composer
a composeress?

No. And her sex is entirely
beside the point.

And a justice
of the Supreme Court

is a justice,
not "Madam Justess."

N
o
w
, Mr. Justice, I submit that we
are failing in our duty on this
court

i
f
w
e don't try to stop the
avalanche of prurient slop...

M
adam, if you'll... I'm not
finished.

Which is about
to bury us.

Are we doing our job
if we permit anything?

W
hat are we permitting?

Violence in the streets.

Kids on
drugs.

Filth. Pornography.

W
h
o slaps the labels on? You? Me?

Somebody better.
N
o, thank you, ma'am.

I
t
hink it's unconstitutional to
set myself up as a censor.

R
e
fusing to look at something is
censorship.

H
e
l
l, I don't look at television,
that doesn't make it illegal.

T
hat's not the point.

S
e
e
ing that film is material to
making a judgment.

If
yo
u'
d spent 10 minutes in that
screening room. Five minutes.

Y
o
u
would see how obscene, how
outrageous...

Censorship
is an outrage.

W
h
a
t about a training film for
terrorists?

A
f
r
ee lecture. How To Make a Nuclear Bomb in Your Basement.

D
o
you condone inciting to
violence?

No,
ma'am.

W
h
at about inciting to decadence?

Define
decay.

That's what we're here for.

Not me.

W
e'd better try.

The
people
of
this country have only one
absolute protection against
chaos.

T
he law.

A
n
d
you and I were appointed to
this court for only one reason,

t
o
uphold and sustain that law.

Watch out.
You can't turn the law
into a straitjacket.

The law's gotta be a suit
of clothes a man can wear.

It's gotta fit easy,
be comfortable.

L
a
w
shouldn't strap a man in at the
throat, or the brain, or the
crotch.

T
hat's vivid.

Do you know what you're doing?

Y
o
u're making Maloney more
important than the law.

He is more important
than the law!

T
h
is court doesn't try men. We
put their trials on trial.

T
h
a
t's it. We're constantly
examining the witness who isn't
there.

All we ever
get to see are lawyers,
cold records, cold briefs.

Where's the human being?
Where's the pain?
We've gotta touch flesh.

I

I
t
's in the people who get hurt.

T
h
e
innocent little kid who sits in
the dark theater while
Maloney's filth

p
ours over him.

Th
at's where the pain is.

You're on the right track.

You're beginning
to look at people.

A
n
d when you let a little more
humanity into your thinking,

y
o
u might make a damn good
justice.

B
ut I won't bet on it.

Y
o
u're just being sweet to me
because I'm a woman.

D
o
I
have any appointments this
afternoon?

3:15. Miller, securi...

C
ancel it.

Mrs. Stowe just called.

C
a
ll her back, tell her I can't
talk to her.

And blow your nose, please.

I
d
o
n't wanna talk to anybody. I
gotta work, I gotta concentrate.

Yes, sir.

He says he doesn't want to...

I wouldn't dream
of disturbing Justice Snow.

I

F
ilm producer. Oh...

There you are, Mr. Maloney.

What?

A respected colleague of mine,

M
r
. Justice Snow, feels that this
court

i
s
doing you a great injustice

b
y
not meeting you face-to-face.

W
e
ought to hear your voice,

b
a
sk in your personality.

W
h
at was the expression he used?

O
h
, yes, we should "touch flesh."

M
ason, call the guard.

Don't go, Mason.

This might be quite
educational for all of us.

W
o
uld you care to take the
witness stand,

Mr. Maloney?

G
oing to swear me in?

Going to lie to me?

M
a
ybe you better swear me in.

I

t
o
be the truth, the whole truth,

and
nothing
but the truth, so help me
Loomis.

Let's get right
to the point, Mr. Maloney.

Are you aware
that you broke a law?

N
o, ma'am.

You didn't realize
that the State of Nebraska

has statutes
prohibiting pornography?

D
o
esn't the First Amendment apply
to guys like me?

I
s
n
't it an umbrella that's
supposed to keep all of us from
getting wet?

O
r
is there a hole in it over
Nebraska?

But the people of Nebraska
have the freedom

to protect themselves
against your abuse
of their freedom.

That's what this case
is all about.

L
o
ok, lady, I'm a businessman,

a
n
d
I don't see where the
government's got any business

t
e
lling me how to run my business.

Oh, I'm relieved.

For a while, I thought you
might be thinking of
yourself as an artist.

I do recall
the word "art"

plastered across your film.

Tell me, Mr. Maloney,

do you honestly believe

The Naked Nymphomaniac is art?

S
u
r
e, why not? Who's to say it
isn't? What's art anyway?

A
r
tists don't even know, let
alone lawyers.

Exactly what was
your motivation

in filming The Naked Nymphomaniac?

Money.

Y
o
u
can't have much pursuit of
happiness in this country

u
n
less you pursue a little money.

An
yt
hing unconstitutional about
that?

Does the Constitution
give you the right to
do anything for money?

D
o
es it give you the right to
shove me into bankruptcy?

The
lawmake
rs of Nebraska want to stop the
pollution

o
f
the minds and morals of the
public.

B
y films like yours.

M
y
colleague on this bench, Mr.
Justice Snow...

Fine man.
Know him very well.

H
e
feels very strongly about
profit-pursuing

c
o
nglomerates which pollute the
air.

A
i
r is different. You've got to
breathe.

Y
o
u don't have to go to the
movies.

State and local
governments have a right
to set community standards.

P
e
o
ple can say, "I don't want this
kind of thing in my
neighborhood."

Is it okay for people to say,

W
e
don't want any Baptists in our
neighborhood, damn it"?

Your film, it's called
an exploitation film,
is that correct?

R
i
g
ht, and you're keeping me from
exploiting it.

Aren't you exploiting women,

the act of love?

G
i
ving a distorted picture of sex
to young people?

W
ho am I hurting?

I'm not talking
about bodily harm.

Has anyone died from seeing
The Naked Nymphomaniac?

What about injury
to the spirit?

Doesn't your
celluloid poison

attack all human dignity
and decency and beauty?

I
d
on't think you like my picture.

I
t
hink somebody had better set
some standards,

some voice had better say,
"This far and no farther."

Y
o
u're talking like a woman, not
a justice.

Y
o
u
're talking like a justice, not
a witness. Sit down, Maloney.

Have you been
to New York lately?

Times Square,
44th, 45th Street?

I
t
used to be a decent place to
visit.

U
n
forgettable music, powerful
plays.

T
o
day, right around the corner on
8th Avenue,

your picture's
probably playing

alongside a lot of other
pornography and filth.

W
atch out, lady.

S
c
r
atch me, put me out of
business, and who else gets
scratched?

The
same
end of the eraser can wipe out

y
o
ur unforgettable music and your
powerful plays.

You're sharp, Maloney.

You pull every sleeve
inside out.

You want the liberty
to dirty up my liberty,

my security against

the profiteering
two-legged cockroaches
of this world,

my right to live in a sweet
and decent society and not
some kind of sewer.

Even in New York you have
to clean up after your dog
shits on the sidewalk,

and it's a perversion
of the Constitution

to shove our faces
into excrement

masquerading as art.

I'm glad I met you,
Mr. Maloney.

I feel I have a much better
understanding of you...

And Justice Snow.

He may want the
absolute freedom
to go straight to hell,

that's his right.

B
u
t
he has no right to force the
rest of the country to take the
trip with him.

Y
ou may step down.

Y
e
ah, you make a pretty good
trial lawyer.

T
o
o bad you had to gave it up.

Y
o
u make a very good actor.

I
m
a
y always have the feeling
there's a pornographic producer
under your robes.

I
t
makes me sick to my stomach

t
o
h
ave to defend a principle as
noble as the First Amendment

o
n
t
he basis of that can of film
you found so offensive,

b
u
t by God, as long as I have
tongue and tonsils,

a
n
d
the ability to talk, I'll
defend everybody's right to
speak,

a
n
d every man's right to be wrong.

I
y
i
eld to you as the authority on
that, Mr. Justice.

She's dangerous.

T
h
at woman is positively
dangerous.

T
h
e
men on this court have got to
stick together, Mason.

A
f
ter all, there are only eight
of us left

a
gainst all of her.

Sh
ould we smile a little?

Good God, no.
Who would trust
a happy justice?

Should the lady be
standing while the five
of us are sitting?

T
h
i
s is where the newest member of
the court is supposed to be, I
think.

Ready, everybody?

Now, please don't look
directly into the camera.

A
n
d I think if you seem to be
looking out into space?

I
nto the future?

I can't see that far.
I didn't bring my glasses.

Y
o
u'll need more than glasses.

M
y
w
ife always hates these
pictures. She says we all look
stuffed.

W
h
y don't we take a snapshot of
our convictions?

I
t
w
ould have to be a moving
picture, if convictions mean
anything.

M
y
convictions don't move.

Neither did
the dinosaurs.

C
o
me on, tear that one up.

Yes, Mr. Chief Justice.

W
o
uld somebody suggest to our
great dissenter

t
h
at he curb his celebrated sense
of humor?

H
e
'll need all his wits to keep on

writing
minority opinions.

Well, a man's got to decide
whether to be on the right
side or the winning side.

Once in a while,
they are the same.

T
h
i
s court isn't going to reverse
the Seventh Circuit on Omnitech.

DAN: We sure as hell won't
if we don't even hear it.

Come on, gentlemen.
Hold that for the
conference room.

Y
o
u can wreck the whole business
establishment,

M
r. Justice Snow,

w
i
th your damn socialist ideas!

I'm about as much of a
socialist as Donald Duck
and you know it,

you brainwashed
Brahman!

C
o
me on, come on. Harold, sit
down.

Come on,
now. Dan,
behave yourself.

Here we go.

Destroy that negative.

Yes, sir.

Harold, try to remember
what you did with your
face last year.

You looked pretty good.

I
did?

J
ust look trustworthy.

Somebody in Washington
better look that way.

I
s Justice Snow implying

th
at
no
body in this city, or this
country, is honest except him?

Oh, to hell with the picture.

C
J
: Dan, where are you going?
We've got to finish this!

P
a
ste me in from last year.

C
J
: All right, Richard, we'll try
again tomorrow.

RICHARD: Yes, sir.

I
t's been a pleasure.

G
ood afternoon, sir.

W
h
ere are you going? Not to
Europe again?

Much farther than that.

Virgini
a.

Yes, you can
take those two.
I'll bring these myself.

I thought I'd be gone
before you came home.

Usually, that's
not very difficult.

I left a note for you on
the dining room table.

I
d
on't want to read any notes.

Then you can talk it
over with my lawyers.

They thought that would
avoid any unnecessary
unpleasantness.

W
h
at's so pleasant about talking
to lawyers?

W
h
at the hell is happening around
here?

Ma
yb
e
the court can stand your bad
temper, but I can't.

What do you mean,
bad temper?

G
o
d
damn it, I'm the sweetest-
tempered son of a bitch in the
District of Columbia!

Sit down.

Why
should
I sit down?

W
h
at the hell are you doing?

D
e
s
cribe the wallpaper. What
wallpaper?

In this room.

W
allpaper...

What color is it?

W
h
a
t design? Who memorizes
wallpaper?

You can't memorize
what you don't ever see.

Good-bye, Dan.

P
i
nk roses and butterflies, for
Christ's sake!

R
U
TH: How does the great dissenter

f
e
e
l about our playing tennis
together every week?

I'm not sure.
I haven't told him yet.

W
e
ll, I must say, Dan Snow has
done a lot for my game.

E
v
ery time I get a high one I can
really kill.

That's not you on the
other side of the net.

T
h
at's
why they go by me so fast.

Go change.
I'll give you a lift to
Mount Olympus.

H
o
w do you stand his moods, Mason?

E
v
ery time I see him, he's ready
to explode.

D
o
es he ever just relax?

Yeah, he does have
strong feelings.

Same as you do.

I hope
you're
not implying that he and I are
alike.

No, no, no.
I just mean that you
have similar differences.

You both care about things,

nothing's unimportant,

whether you're making
a point on the bench

or on the tennis court.

D
o
es Justice Snow ever talk about
me?

Oh, all the time.

A
nything quotable?

Well...

I
withdraw the question.

H
earsay evidence.

I
nadmissible.

M
orning.

Y
o
u're not a double agent, are
you, Mason?

No, sir.

We just get in a set of
tennis about once a week
before breakfast.

She plays very well
for a justice
of the Supreme Court.

She's got a hell of a
backhand, sir.

Y
e
ah, I know. I've seen it work.

When we found out we
were both tennis players...

Well, I hope you
don't mind, sir.

H
ell, no.

G
o ahead.

W
ear her out.

Yes, sir.

Why are you trying
to persuade me?

Y
o
u know I won't vote to hear it.

A
ll right, all right!

W
e'll table this one.

Wh
y not table everything?

DA
N: Oh, no. Abbot vs. Omnitech.

I
th
ink putting Omnitechon the
calendar

i
s
an exercise in futility.

Right.
O
h, is it?

Perhaps
if we
stopped
recruiting judges

fr
om
the jungles of Orange County,

ma
yb
e
we can get a 4-5 court turned
into a 5-4 court.

I

T
h
at's what we're trying to save
you from, Dan.

Well, I don't want to be
saved! I want to keep right
on going, straight to hell.

W
hat's Omnitechdone?

That's what these
little stockholders
are trying to find out.

But, Dan, the momentum
engine doesn't work.

That's
what Omnitech says.

W
h
at about these experts who say
otherwise?

B
u
t we'll never know, will we?

B
e
cause Donald Richards, chairman
of Omnitech,

h
a
s bought up all the patents and
buried them.

T
h
i
s action is against Omnitech,
not Donald Richards.

D
o
nald Richards is Omnitech, for
Christ's sake.

W
h
ere the hell is he, and why has
he disappeared?

I
mmaterial.

I
d
on't see any new Constitutional
grounds

for us to review Omnitech.

I
f
we don't hear it, who in the
hell will?

T
h
is is the last goddamn stop,
lady.

Why does Brother Snow
insist on wasting
the court's valuable time?

B
e
cause I smell plenty of
unrefrigerated fish here.

Muckraking.
That's all it is, Dan.

Do you
like being screwed?

B
e
cause that's what Donald
Richards is doing, you know.

Screwing you and me and
the whole country.

Y
o
u
're a troublemaker, you know
that?

Yes, I know that.
But somebody has to be, CJ.

Move up Omnitech.

Good morning,
Mr. Justice Snow.

Morning

What makes you think
it's going to rain?

T
h
e newspaper said there's an 80%
chance of rain or snow.

What do they know?

They're wrong
80% of the time.

T
hat was our floor.

Yes. Why didn't you get out?

I
thought you'd go first.

How would you like to take
a little trip with me?

T
h
at's what we seem to be doing.

Ever been to the Smithsonian?

N
ot lately.

Understand I wouldn't dream
of trying to change your
mind for the world,

b
u
t
there's something at the
Smithsonian I think you ought
to look at.

S
o
me early American pornography?

Good
morning, Mr. Justice.

G
ood morning. Morning.

W
h
at have you got in the
briefcase, Harold,

d
irty books?

What I want you to see
at the Smithsonian

i
s
n't even vaguely offensive to
the public sensibility.

W
hat time?

3
:00.

M
ake it 3:15.

We'll take my car.

W
h
at time does the Smithsonian
close?

This won't take long.

Why don't we
take my car?

It has a top.

Well, I guess the paper was
right about the rain.

First time they've been
right in 20 years.

L
a
dy, what you are about to see
is a revolution.

N
onviolent, I hope.

This is it.

Spin it. Go ahead.

Go ahead, give it a spin.
It won't hurt you.

That is a momentum engine.

It's a model of course,
a prototype.

Imagine a flywheel
20 times heavier

r
e
volving 1,000 times faster in a
sealed vacuum.

This could revolutionize
the entire auto industry.

W
e
c
ould have cars without gas
tanks because they wouldn't
need gas to run.

T
h
is is what Omnitech bought and
buried.

I
f
you want to change my vote on Omnitech,no, thank you.

I

Don't treat me like
a first-year law student.

I
'm just trying to...
You're trying to change my
mind.

I

T
h
at machine is a dandy idea and
it just doesn't work.

I
t
's never been given a chance to
work.

I
t's been squashed.

W
o
uld you go to all this trouble
if I were a man?

O
ne of the brothers?

Sex has nothing to do with it.

Be
ca
us
e I'm a woman, your resplendent
male ego wants to win me over.

Jefferson said
an educated electorate
is the basis...

Y
o
u
're an arrogant, self-centered,
male chauvinist pig.

Y
o
u're just being sweet to me
because I'm a man.

I only wanted you to see
with your own eyes,

t
h
at gasoline isn't the only way
to store energy.

W
e
ll, don't expect me to believe

t
h
a
t Alice in Wonderland whirligig
could run a car.

Having trouble, are you?

Excuse me.

Finally
got the auto club.

M
ay be a while.

We could take a cab
if we could get a cab.

H
ave you eaten anything?

No, I just got in here.
Same as you.

I
meant today.

Oh, today. Well, I, um,

I'm not sure.
I don't keep track.

Do you know what that
do
es to your blood sugar?
What do you care?

A
p
e
rson can't make valid judgments
with low blood sugar.

Is that any place
in the Constitution?

W
e
ll... Good evening.

I

I
think
you are hungry and you just
don't know it.

I'm not hungry
and I know it.

I'll order something for you.

You're not telling her
to put poison in my food,
are you?

I
d
on't know how to say poison.

I appreciate
your concern
about my insides.

D
o
me a favor, will you? Put your
hand over your eyes?

W
hy?

A test.

What's on the wall?
W
allpaper.

Uh, what color?

G
old. Any pattern?

Y
es. What is it?

C
h
erry blossoms with bluebirds.

How the hell
did you know that?

I
saw it when we came in!

You go around looking
at wallpaper everyplace?

My God, that's what's
wrong with you!

Your brains are
full of wallpaper.

W
e
ll, your brain is full of...

Watch that.
Watch...

People...
People here...

I
w
a
s going to say momentum engines
and Omnitech.

Omnitechmay be the most importance case
of this decade.

When one tiny group of
stockholders tries to

undermine a
great corporation...

Big. Huge.
Not necessarily great.

How come the president
of Omnitech didn't
show up at his own trial?

D
o
n
Richards doesn't want the
courts to put him out of
business!

R
u
l
e against Omnitech, and down
goes the whole corporate system.

Only the abuses.

In
your isolated opinion.

Not so isolated.
W
e
have statutes that define the
abuses.

I
f
w
e try to extend our
jurisdiction... All I'm asking
is what's fair.

.into legislative area.

D
o
n't you see? Omnitech must win.

Oh, you think that,
do you?
Y
es!

W
e
l
l it seems to me anything can
happen, no matter how great the
odds.

That's what makes
this country
so wonderful.

I absolutely agree with you.

B
u
t
do you know what I believe more
than anything else? You said it
on the bench!

Y
o
u said, "The noblest purpose of
this high court

i
s to keep the government off
the backs of the people."

People, yes.
Not the large...

Aren't corporations people?

O
w
ned by people, run by
people. ...not the large.

Not the large...
For
the benefit of people?

Not the large...

A
n
d
they may be destroyed by people
on the high court who seem to
have

f
o
rgotten some of their earlier
and wiser opinions.

Ah, the hell with this!

Y
o
u haven't eaten your dim sum.

To hell with my dim sum!

What about your blood sugar?

T
o
h
ell with my blood sugar. All I
wanted anyhow was a cup of
coffee and a fork.

Is something wrong, sir?
Yes. Everything.

Give me a check!

I
'll take the check.

Y
e
s
, you do that. You'll feel much
better about it.

And don't worry about me.
I'll be just fine.
I'll take a cab.

G
ood.

It's nothing personal.

He's just very upset.

He's been working too hard.

I don't have any
money for a cab.

G
o
od night, Madam Justice.

Would you see that these
are delivered to Justice
Snow in the morning?

Justice
Snow's still here.

I don't think so.

He
's in the court, ma'am.

This late?

Y
es, ma'am.

Okay. Thank you.

How long have you been here?

Since October.

I'
m
not sure the lady has enough
seniority

t
o
haunt these chambers at, uh,

1
:20 in the morning.

W
h
at the hell are you doing here
so late?

Studying for finals.

What about you?

W
e
ll, I used to think I lived in
Georgetown,

b
u
t I guess this is more my
permanent residence.

I brought you these.
A few opinions of mine
from the lower court.

I

You're welcome.

Ma
y I ask you a question?

Sure.

Ot
her than my blood sugar

an
d my bad table manners,

e
x
actly how repulsive do you
think I am?

D
o
you want my opinion as a
justice of the Supreme Court?

N
o, no, no.

A
s a woman.

You want to take the Fifth?

Maybe one of us
had better.

My car runs now.

Would you like a lift home?

N
o.

P
r
etty cool around the Snow
household these days.

I heard that.

I'm sorry.

I
t
's your fault, you know.

My fault?

I
t
h
ink my wife thinks that I spend
so much time being furious at
you that I don't

h
a
ve enough energy left to be
furious with her.

A
nd I have a hunch

she thinks I consider
you attractive.

There's certainly
no evidence to support
that contention.

O
h
, I wouldn't be too sure about
that.

I
h
ope you assured Mrs. Snow that
the mere fact one of your

colleagues happens
to be a woman...

T
hat's no mere fact.

That's an overwhelming fact.

B
u
t I've never been prejudiced by
sex.

E
n
tertained, yes. Prejudiced,
never.

Yes, yes, yes.

T
h
is is a dandy. I remember it
well.

I don't agree
with a word of
it, but it's
well-written.

H
o
w can you be so goddamned
logical

a
nd so goddamned wrong?

W
h
a
t's so wrong about encouraging
the economy?

I

a
b
out improving the quality of
life on this planet

and I
agree with you, Dan.

J
ustice Snow.

Dan is fine.

L
o
ok what these great companies
have done for us.

Large companies.

Large.
L
arge.

A
r
e we going to throw those
benefits away?

S
h
o
uld I take my weekly wash down
to the banks of the Potomac
River and

a
nd beat it with rocks?

Won't get it very clean.

If we reverse the
Seventh Circuit on Omnitech...

If it's so damn important,

why doesn't Donald Richards
stand trial?

Wh
at do you want to know?

You're not Donald Richards,

and he's the one
with the answers.

Swear me in.

O
h
, you want to play that game
again.

A
ll right. You're sworn.

I
a
m delighted, Mr. Donald
Richards,

to
have you here at last.

I
n
the flesh, so to speak.

W
o
uld you state your occupation,
please?

I'm president and
chairman of the board of
Omnitech International.

W
h
y
did you refuse to testify in
the suit against your company?

I never received
a subpoena.

T
h
ey have to know where you are
to serve it.

But
you
deliber
ately made yourself
unavailable, remained in hiding.

Doesn't an American citizen

have a right to privacy?

T
ell me something, sir.

I

I'm the majority stockholder.

Y
e
s. I kind of thought you were.

No
w,
what about all those little
stockholders

w
h
o got wind of the appalling
notion

that
you,
Mr.
Richards, grabbed up an
earthshaking idea and strangled
it.

You know what
I find appalling?

That you have the
arrogance to pass

j
u
dgment on something you don't
know anything about.

Bu
t you do, Mr. Richards?

When we test something,
like the momentum engine,

a
n
d we find out it doesn't work,

we drop it and spend
our time and money on
something that will work.

W
h
at about the experts who say it
does work?

You think I would
deliberately dump an idea

t
h
at could make millions for my
stockholders?

B
u
t you've got billions committed

t
o
the internal combustion engine.

O
m
n
itech makes spark plugs, you
wanna go on making spark plugs.

T
h
e
re's money in carburetors. You
wanna go on making carburetors.

Y
o
u
've got vested interests in 16
oil companies.

Y
o
u wanna go on selling gas.

Y
o
u
have one noble purpose, Mr.
Richards, to keep things the
way they are.

An idea doesn't just turn
into a reality.

Something's gotta
make it happen.

It takes money
to build factories,

grind out a product,
advertise it, sell it.

Did you ever hear
of a box of cereal

or a tube of toothpaste
going out and
giving birth to itself?

Do you know what it takes?

C
apital. Capital. You're
damn right.

And I'm not going to
commit my corporation

t
o
the expenditure of millions of
dollars on an idea

that just doesn't work.

T
h
at you say doesn't work.

Look.

T
h
omas Edison dreamed up the
electric light bulb.

T
h
e government gave him a patent.

S
o
that he could profit from his
invention.

F
i
n
e! But the light itself belongs
to everybody,

a
n
d nobody... Nobody has a right

t
o turn on the darkness.

You dare accuse me,
my company, my companies,
of practices

that belong in the Dark Ages?

T
hen let there be light!

C
o
me out of the dark, Donald
Richards!

W
ho are you?

W
h
at do you look like? Where have
you been?

Holy Christ.

Y
o
u
know what I think? I think
you're dead, Donald Richards.

I
t
h
ink you've been dead for a long
time. Eight, maybe 10 years.

It
's
been that long since anyone has
seen you.

A
n
d if you are dead, who is
running Omnitech?

W
h
o actually holds all that power?

S
o
me cabal of faceless men

w
i
thout names, without
fingerprints,

w
i
thout Social Security numbers,

w
h
o
are compounding your
suppression of the momentum
engine

by hiding behind a dead man?

Why would anybody
want to do that?

He
ll
of a lot of reasons. Dodge
inheritance taxes,

a
void a power struggle.

H
a
ng on to government contracts.

O
m
n
itech is a phantom government
hiding behind a dead man.

W
e
can't see it. We didn't elect
it.

I
t
doesn't exist. It never dies!

W
h
y don't we hoist up a new flag?

The star-spangled Omnitech!

O
m
nitech rules the waves!

O
mnitech uber alles!

U
gh.

U
gh.

O
h.

D
an, are you all right?

Yeah, sure.
It was a lot of fun.

I enjoyed it.

ATTENDANT: One...

Two...

U
p.

W
hat do the doctors say?

They don't know.
They're making tests.

I
s he in any pain? No, I
don't think so.

I
d
on't ever remember Dan being
sick before.

He considers it
unconstitutional.

I

Are you ready, gentlemen
and Madam Justice?

After today's session,
I need 24 hours.
O
h?

I
h
a
ve to go to California. There's
something I have to be
absolutely sure about.

O
f course.

PILOT: Ladies and gentlemen,
we are making our descent

to John Wayne Orange County Airport.

P
l ease be sure your seat belt is securely fastened.

ANNOUNCER: Golden West Airlines announces Flight 710

from Los Angeles

now arriving at Gate 8.

W
e
lcome home, Madam Justice.

You look fabulous.
Thanks, Bill.
T
hanks for meeting me.

Thank you for letting me.
How about your luggage?

T
his is it. That's it?

I
h
ave to catch the red-eye back
tonight.

You're kidding! I had a lot
of things arranged for us.

I
'm a working girl.

Not even one set?
I was planning on beating
you this time.

T
h
e court sits tomorrow morning.

Well, you were right.

Loomis and Loomis
did have dealings
with Omnitech.

B
u
t
I don't think it's anything you
should be worried about.

I

lasted
about five minutes.

Is this all there is?
T
hat's it.

N
o
w
, I've made reservations for
lunch at a great new place
right on the water.

B
u
t first, if you don't mind,
let's stop by the office.

Lots
of
people
there would like to see what a
Supreme Court Justice looks
like.

W
hat's the matter?

N
e
v
er could read your husband's
shorthand.

I can.

Take me to
Bekins warehouse.

W
hat for?

Just take me.

Loomis' records
are on the left hand side,
at the end.

W
hy is this one locked?

Big surprise to me.

I never thought of the
Supreme Court as an
investigative body.

W
hat's in there?

You don't want to know.

G
ive me the key.

D
o
n't tell me you haven't got it.

Y
o
u knew about this all along,
didn't you?

So did your husband.

Reverend Loomis
preached the sermon.

I just said amen.

I
don't believe this.

I just
don't believe this.

Good. It's better
that way.

Put the file away,

turn the key
and it never happened.

I
f
you think I'm going to shove
this back into the dark

t
o
protect you, or the firm or
myself,

y
ou're dead wrong.

G
e
t me the references on Dalton v. Utah.

A
nd I want a facsimile

o
f
t
he black letter that's on my
desk on top of Sparey v. Virginia.

R
ight.

You shouldn't be
out of bed, Mr. Justice.

N
u
rse, can you lend me a quarter?

U
h
, just a minute, operator,
reverse the charges, will you?

Y
e
s, just reverse... Make it a
collect...

M
a
s
on, tell the operator you'll
pay for the call, will you?

J
u
stice Snow is at the telephone
again.

I'm aware of that, Mason.

I
am aware of that.

Just
because
I'm in a hospital

doesn't
mean
my mind isn't functioning.

Listen, don't let them take
that Omnitechvote without me.

NURSE OVER PA: Dr. Hollerand,
please call extension 429...

W
i ll the head surgical nurse call the main desk, please?

D
r . Singh, please go to the orthopedic wing.

D
r . Singh, go to the orthopedic wing.

Y
ou have just dropped

American justice on the floor.

N
U
R
SE OVER PA: Dr. Foley, please go to admitting.

Hi.

Come on in.

How are you?

H
ow are you?

I'm fine.

Pay no attention to
the buzzards circling
above the building.

Y
o
u know what they did? They
yanked out my telephone.

How do they expect you to
get any work done
around here?

Hey, what are you doing?
I'm not going to fall out.

Y
o
u
know they can kill you in a
hospital if you don't stick up
for your rights.

Y
o
u be a good boy now, Mr.
Justice.

Oh, shut up.
A
n
d don't give us any more
trouble.

Get me another pillow.

Ma
yb
e I should talk to you another
time, Dan.

No, no, no.

What's the problem?
Come here.

I just wanted to tell you this

b
e
fore you heard it from somebody
else.

I
w
ent to California for the day.

Couldn't take it, huh?

I'm resigning from the court.

Why would you do a
damn fool thing like that?

I
f
ound out that Jack, my husband,

a
n
d our law firm were involved
with Omnitech.

G
o
od morning, Dan. Morning.

Dr. Fogger,
Madam Justice Loomis.

O
h. Oh, well... How do you do?

H
ello. It's a pleasure.

Somebody swiped
my telephone, Doctor.

N
o
, no, no. We took it out, Dan.
We want you to rest.

H
o
w do you expect me to rest
without a telephone?

T
h
at logic will get you nowhere.

W
o
u
ld you please stop trying to
change the hospital rules?

The
First
Amendme
nt to the Constitution does not
apply in hospitals.

It should.

What the hell
are you doing here?

Officia
l
business of the federal
government.

M
ay I come in?

O
h
, did I get you in the middle
of something?

I
'm sorry.

Wh
at
did you do, just get up and
walk out?

Yes, ma'am.
This is very nice.

Th
ey
told me you're still under
observation.

It's bigger than my place.
T
h
ey don't even know what
happened to you.

W
e
ll, they'll have to figure it
out without me.

I can't give them
any more of my time.

Dan, if it was a coronary...

Coronary?

My heart wouldn't
dare attack me.

Now what's all this
crap about quitting?

Do you mind?

Why don't you lie down?

T
h
at's okay. I'll be all
right in a minute. Put your
feet up.

Can I get you a pillow?

S
ure, why not?

A
re you asleep?

Yes.

Here.

Y
o
u want to tell me what's wrong?

Are you well
enough to talk?

I

The other night,

you made
an outrageous statement.

You said you didn't
think Donald Richards
was still alive.

I got this out of a sealed
Loomis and Loomis file
in Santa Ana.

It's Donald Richards'
death certificate.

H
oly God.

A
nybody else see this?

No.

T
h
is makes Omnitecha whole new
ballgame.

G
o
d, are we going to shake up the
brothers!

G
et your clothes on.

W
e
can still make that morning
conference.

I'm not going.

W
hat?

I told you.

I'm resigning from the court.

That's
idiotic
. It doesn't make any sense.

My husband knew.

J
a
ck knew that Donald Richards
died in Costa Rica in 1973.

And he was part of the
conspiracy to cover it up.

D
id you know?

D
i
d your husband ever tell you
anything about it?

No. Of course not.

T
h
en there's no reason to resign.

G
e
t some clothes on. Let's get
down there.

I
f
t
here's the slightest doubt in
anybody's mind that I belong
there,

I don't want to be there.

L
a
dy, that is extremely noble,

b
ut goddamned wrong.

What do you think
I should do, Dan?
What's protocol?

Should I write the President?

Y
o
u don't write anybody. Keep
your robes on.

L
e
t the mud fly. It won't stick
to you.

Quittin
g the
court without good reason

i
s
spitting in the face of the
government that put you there.

Without good reason?
I've got good reason.

Be
ca
us
e of something your husband did
that you know nothing about?

When you're married
to somebody you become...

Y
o
u're a member of the high
court...

Y
o
u
don't dissociate yourself from
somebody that you're married to.

...by God, something happens.

I
n a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye,

"this
corrupt
ion shall put on incorruption."

St. Paul vs. The Corinthians.

E
t al.

I
nteresting case.

B
u
t
what if an incorrupt person
finds out that she's corrupt?

T
h
at's applesauce and you know it.

I thought you'd be happy
to have me off the court.

T
h
at was before you were on the
court.

I
n
ever thought I'd ever kiss a
Supreme Court Justice.

You didn't kiss me.
I kissed you.

M
ake you a deal.

Y
o
u don't resign, I don't die.

Let me think about that.

D
o
n't we want the working
entrance?

Not this morning.
Right up the front steps.

Can't wait to get into
that conference room.

You
really
think
we can go in there and I can
pick up where I left off?

Hell no.
Every day is different.

You're different.
I'm different.

Every morning,
a fresh beginning.
Fresh start.

First Monday in October.
A
lways.

C
ABBIE: Hey!

W
hat about the meter?

I
d
on't have any money.

Y
ou liberals never do.

4.25.

Here.
Keep the change.

T
hanks, Your Honor.

Y
o
u
know what's on the calendar
right after Omnitech,don't
you?

F
i rst Atheist Church vs. The City of Waco, Texas.

You ain't going to miss
that one, are you?

O
b
v
iously, community standards
should prevail.

What about
religious freedom?

A
theism is a religion?

God, yes.
O
h, Dan!

What about Cook County Diocese vs. John Doe?

What about Smith v. US?

M iller vs. Moon.

Dalton v. Utah.

O
h
, we're going to have a battle
on that one.

You can count on it.

Yo
u
shouldn't be climbing
these steps! Why not?

This is my mountain,
our mountain.

Y
ou know something?

Y
o
u and I make each other
possible.

Damn right, we do.