‘The Court Supreme’: Boston Legal Invades One First Street
Cameras in the courtroom at the U.S. Supreme Court? Over Justice Souter’s dead body.
So you’ll have to settle for fictional depictions on television. From a very interesting report by Tony Mauro, for the Legal Times:
Nearly a decade ago, when his show “Ally McBeal” was at its peak, lawyer-turned-Hollywood-producer David E. Kelley was invited to dinner at the home of then-Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.There, Kelley recalls, he got to chat with four or five justices along with other D.C. luminaries.
But now, Kelley says in an exclusive interview with Legal Times, “I’ve probably disqualified myself” from any justice’s invitation list for a return visit.
That’s because of an April 22 episode of Kelley’s current hit show “Boston Legal,” which included one of the most vociferous popular-culture critiques of the current conservative Supreme Court since John Roberts Jr. became chief justice in 2005.
Yum, dinner at SOC’s house. Did you try the salmon?
The anti-Roberts Court screed, improbably enough, is delivered to the justices to their faces during the episode titled “The Court Supreme.” Co-star James Spader, who plays Boston lawyer Alan Shore, lights into the Court as he argues before look-alike justices on behalf of a Louisiana child rapist facing the death penalty. The episode aired just six days after the real Court heard arguments in Kennedy v. Louisiana, an actual child rape/death penalty case.A sample of the rhetoric: Shore attacks the “overtly and shamelessly pro-business” Court, and takes a sharp detour from the rape case to slam Justice Antonin Scalia for his seemingly likely support for Exxon Mobil in the case -also argued recently-involving punitive damages awarded after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Don’t try this at home, kids — or in real life. The nine current justices are, for the most part, a good-humored group. But they probably wouldn’t appreciate being called “overtly and shamelessly pro-business” — at least not in open court.
(Save it for the pages of the New York Times. Jeffrey Rosen, holla.)
Discussion continues, below the fold.
Back to Shore’s little tirade from the show:
“Nineteen years after the Valdez oil spill and the plaintiffs are still waiting to be fully compensated,” Shore says.When the Scalia character interjects sharply, “You are getting so far off point,” Shore shoots back: “My point is, who are you people? You’ve transformed this court from being a governmental branch devoted to civil rights and liberties into a protector of discrimination, a guardian of government, a slave to monied interests and big business and today, hallelujah, you seek to kill a mentally disabled man.”
“[W]ho are you people?” Uh, we’re the Supreme Court. Note how the first word in our name is “Supreme.” And even if you don’t like our decisions much, good luck getting rid of us. There’s this thing called the Good Behavior Clause, you see….
The episode had the show’s usual zany angles, including flatulence inside the Court chamber, courtesy of Shore’s partner Denny Crane, played by William Shatner.
Lovely. But it’s too bad it’s not one of the justices who passed gas. Those black robes are great for trapping inappropriate emissions.
Speaking of crudeness, when Crane first talks to Shore about the exciting prospect of arguing before the Court, he says the Court clerk is “this really pretty woman” who starts Court sessions by crying out, “Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!” Crane adds, “It’s like sex, Alan!”Shore has to break it to him: “It’s not ‘Oh yes.’ It’s ‘oyez.’” And parenthetically it’s the marshal, not the clerk, who opens the session with the ancient cry. Her name, not mentioned on the show, is Pamela Talkin.
Why does everyone get so aroused when they step into the courtroom at One First Street? Think about all those hottie-seeking Craigslist “missed connection” postings (e.g., here and here). As we’ve said before, the judicial power of the United States is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
When Shore begins to tell the Court that his client probably did not even commit the rape, the character playing Justice Samuel Alito Jr. interjects sternly, “Factual innocence is not something you get to argue.” Shore exclaims, “How silly is that? You’re deciding whether or not to kill someone and his possible innocence is irrelevant?”The “chief justice” has had enough. “Mr. Shore, I don’t like your demeanor, your tone,” he says angrily. “I would remind you of where you are.”
That’s what launches Shore into his tirade. “I know exactly where I am,” he says. “And let me tell you, you folks are not as hot as all get-out.”
Well, some of them are. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Souter are, respectively, the fifth- and fourth-hottest men in the federal judiciary! And Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a cheerleader back in the day.
It’s a very interesting article, and we’ve given you mere excerpts. Read the whole thing over here.
We also missed the episode of “Boston Legal” in question. But if you were lucky enough to see it, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
David E. Kelley’s ‘Boston Legal’ Takes on the Roberts Court [Legal Times via BLT]
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And we wonder why the American public has such a skewed view of the justice system and SCOTUS. Or is it really skewed?
That rant by Spader was so incredibly biased, ridiculous, and inappropriate. No wonder people get the perceptions they do. The one justice referred to the record below and the facts certain issues weren't before the Court. The response was the typical "so what, I get to bring everything in... it's JUSTICE we're talking about." Totally ridiculous for anyone who took Civ Pro 1, 2, or Fed Courts. But how many people did that who watch Boston Legal?
Loved how all the justices just took the rant too. Very realistic.
Absolutely sickening... you'll hear the occasional lament that lawyers are not respected, or that the field has become a "business" instead of a "profession"... and then you remember why the public has no respect for the rule of law. It seems that ranting and cynicism provide an easy cop-out for someone lacking an understanding of the real issues in play.
I've seen about 10 episodes of Boston Legal (but not this one). Spader's rants are always ridiculous, but they're so over the top that it's hard for me to believe that they convince anyone. They're an outlet for hard-left Hollywood, but I doubt they actually convince anyone who doesn't already belong to that group.
spader's best role was the recovering alky who wouldn't apologize to george on seinfeld. i loved when he crawled into the ice cream freezer at the end in search of rum raisin.
The first couple of seasons of Boston Legal were hilarious - mainly because of Shatner. However, recently it has just become a mouthpiece for Kelly's political views and has become rather boring.
Slamming the Scalia stand-in for supposed opposition to punitive damages is especially ridiculous, seeing as the real Scalia, and Thomas as well, have consistently held that big corporations have no constitutional protection against large punitive damage awards.
In the land of the ill-informed, the loudest voice reigns supreme.
Sigh...this show isn't that good, either on its own or compared to Kelley's other work.
And the political rantings are ridiculous. Kelley thinks he can preach his way into making sure communism makes a comeback.
I wouldn't categorize the show as a hit, either. It generates extremely little buzz for all its awards.
And finally, I gave up on Kelley-made shows for the specific reason that Kelley tends to create characters only to make them disappear when the audience is hooked on them. I don't know if he's just bad with actors or he let's his writers kill people off at whim, but seriously, its hard to become invested in a show when your favorite character might disappear or die for no reason in the next episode. It's why Ally McBeal and The Practice hit the skids so quickly after rising so high.
You can watch a clip of the rant here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GG7sj2APpc
It was completely implausible and unlikely, but any fan of Boston Legal will tell you the whole show is implausible and unlikely.
However, Kelly still manages to put enough grains of truth in there to convey important points. If it makes the Average Joe think about these things and gives them a different viewpoint, I think it's great.
For instance, in this case, I was glad a much-loved character like Shore took the case of a "vile criminal." The general public doesn't understand an attorney who defends a convicted child rapist--they think the attorney should be executed right along with the rapist. If this show made the public re-think that viewpoint, then it did its job.
At least most of the time the law can sort of fit--the writers there get on my nerves less than the writers on Eli Stone, who wouldn't know the FRCP from a hole in the ground.
I'm at Rutgers where Justice Ginsburg used to teach and we have lots of photos of her from the Sixties in our library and she was smokin'. She taught CivPro.
No one can really take this seriously, it is too over the top. The best part is when he deviates into confirmation hearings and conflicts of interests the Court has addressed, and then says, "Justice Thomas, at least put down the magazine." Thomas looks up with an embarrassed, "Hey!"
I've argued before the Court and you are trying to tell me that she isn't screaming "oh yes" ... come on ...
Yes, the rants are completely over the top, but as a previous poster said, the whole thing is ridiculously over the top. Shatner's character has shot, what is it now, 3 people, one of whom was a pro bono client? And I've lost count of how many times he's fired a gun in the office. It's supposed to be entirely unrealistic.
And I'm with 12:30, the Justice Thomas thing was hilarious.
Yup that was the last time I watch that show. It's a shame - it used to be pretty funny. But the rants have just gone over the top. We get it - you don't like Republicans. If I wanted to watch such rhetoric - I'd watch CNN. Now entertain me already!!
Who cares about the content?! It's all about Spader's delivery. The man is brilliant. He could turn a nursery rhyme into a hilarious monologue. Besides, anyone who gets their panties in a twist over a television show really needs to find better ways to use their brain.