Original subtitles

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.