Speaker 1: From iHeart Podcasts. This is Supreme The Battle.
Speaker 2: For Rows eighteen Roll Against.
Speaker 1: Wade, starring Maya Hawk and William H. Macon.
Speaker 2: Whenever you are.
Speaker 3: Ready, mister Chief Justice, and may have placed the Court.
Speaker 1: Episode nine, The most controversial man in America.
Speaker 4: Closed the door. I made a decision. We're starting over.
Speaker 4: We're striking down the Texas law.
Speaker 5: Really yes, really?
Speaker 6: Yes? Why is that so hard to believe?
Speaker 5: It's just you're sure this time because you have had
Speaker 5: a few false starts.
Speaker 6: I am. Now, how do we get this done?
Speaker 5: Your honor?
Speaker 4: This will be my first major decision, I write, Charlie,
Speaker 4: we need a home run.
Speaker 5: Okay, I say we go for it, sir. The more
Speaker 5: lenient we are with restrictions, the more likely we are
Speaker 5: to ensure Marshall and Brennan's sign on.
Speaker 4: No no, Marshall, Brennan and Douglas are in the bag.
Speaker 4: We can't go too far and risk alienating Powell, Stewart
Speaker 4: and Warren.
Speaker 5: I disagree, sir. We shouldn't take the liberal justices for granted.
Speaker 5: But aren't we missing the bigger picture? We only need
Speaker 5: one more vote for a five four majority.
Speaker 4: Absolutely not, sir, If we're evenly split one more vote
Speaker 4: gets us over the top.
Speaker 6: Yes, Charlie, I'm aware how math works. Thank you.
Speaker 4: But open a newspaper, turn on the TV. Abortion clinics
Speaker 4: are getting bombed, women and doctors are being harassed and dying.
Speaker 4: This can't be a five to four decision. We can't
Speaker 4: squeak by. I want a real majority, not a coin toss. Yes, sir,
Speaker 4: Now let's go get the damn votes. You say I
Speaker 4: have to play politics. That's what I'll do. I'll play
Speaker 4: majong if you tell me that's the only way. Now,
Speaker 4: where do we begin?
Speaker 5: How about Justice Powell?
Speaker 4: Ser Oh christ Hal wrote the blueprint for the rise
Speaker 4: of the American Conservative movement. For the Lewis Powell, this
Speaker 4: country would go back to before it even heard of FDR. Okay,
Speaker 4: how about the Chief then, No, we need to work
Speaker 4: our way toward Warren.
Speaker 6: How about Wizard Justice White.
Speaker 5: I'll due respect your honor. You're dreaming.
Speaker 6: Wizard was appointed by JFK. Charlie.
Speaker 4: There's a shot, and think how much it'll help dissuay
Speaker 4: the others.
Speaker 6: Whizz there, nice moves out there.
Speaker 7: I led the NFL in rushing my rookie season, Harry,
Speaker 7: I don't need the condescension.
Speaker 4: I didn't mean anything by it, Whizzer. It's about a
Speaker 4: million times better than I could do. You have a
Speaker 4: second to talk, Oh.
Speaker 7: Christ No, I haven't read your latest five hundred page
Speaker 7: opis Harry, how about you give me the cliffs notes.
Speaker 6: Well, sure, here's the overview.
Speaker 4: I'm throwing it out and starting again with something that
Speaker 4: actually has a shot at working.
Speaker 5: Well, look at you.
Speaker 7: You're voting to strike down the Texas law.
Speaker 6: Do you need to get on board, Wizard?
Speaker 4: Yeah, how about a lobotomy if that's where we're starting.
Speaker 7: Look, it's not up to us, Harry, the least democratic
Speaker 7: branch of the government shouldn't be settling this.
Speaker 6: Leave it for Congress or the States.
Speaker 4: You wouldn't say that about civil rights. We wouldn't have
Speaker 4: Brown v Board, Miranda, Gideon Erry.
Speaker 7: If nine old men unilaterally make this decision, you'll radicalize
Speaker 7: this country.
Speaker 6: People will go crazy.
Speaker 7: Let the politicians decide they were elected at least.
Speaker 6: This is raw judicial power gone wrong. No, Wizard.
Speaker 4: When my granddaughters are in college, they won't believe there
Speaker 4: was a time women didn't have the right to control
Speaker 4: their own bodies anymore than we can believe they once
Speaker 4: didn't have the right to vote. Come on board, help
Speaker 4: me shape this thing.
Speaker 6: What do you say?
Speaker 7: Sorry, Harry, Now, if you'll excuse me, I got a
Speaker 7: game to.
Speaker 8: Play, Lewis you got a second for you, Harry, take
Speaker 8: a seat.
Speaker 6: You probably know why I am here.
Speaker 8: I want the husband to have us say take it
Speaker 8: or leave it.
Speaker 4: You want to require a husband's approval for his wife's abortion.
Speaker 4: Brendan and Douglas will never go for it.
Speaker 6: Persuade them, Harry, you're right and the decision. That's your job.
Speaker 6: I can't risk alienating the votes we already have.
Speaker 8: The father has just as many rights to the child
Speaker 8: as the mother, Harry. This shouldn't be controversial.
Speaker 4: Oh christ Powell, we can't even call it a child.
Speaker 6: What planet are you want? Will lose?
Speaker 4: Douglas and Marshall for sure, they're good.
Speaker 6: You got a second.
Speaker 5: Don't use privacy, Harry Good.
Speaker 6: The court is established the right to privacy over and over.
Speaker 6: It's a natural fit for this case.
Speaker 9: Except for one thing. Show me where in the Constitution
Speaker 9: it explicitly mentions the right to privacy?
Speaker 6: What are you an originalist?
Speaker 5: Now?
Speaker 4: Who cares if it's not in the text. We've recognized
Speaker 4: zones of privacy before.
Speaker 9: This decision needs to be rock solid, Harry, rock solid.
Speaker 9: Root it in a written provision, not something that nine
Speaker 9: of us got together and made up like a zone
Speaker 9: of privacy.
Speaker 6: Well, Potter, what's it gonna take?
Speaker 10: You know?
Speaker 2: I'm leaning toward you, Harry, I.
Speaker 6: Do what do you need to actually lay down with me?
Speaker 2: I don't want it on the government's dime. What I
Speaker 2: can get to a place where the due process clause
Speaker 2: guarantees a woman's right to choose. But I can't get
Speaker 2: on board with forcing the state or FED to pay
Speaker 2: for the procedure.
Speaker 4: And women who can't afford an abortion, Potter, what good
Speaker 4: is giving them the right if they can't exercise.
Speaker 2: It, they'll find a way. If they really want it done,
Speaker 2: they'll figure it out.
Speaker 6: Anything else.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to protect all existing state statutes.
Speaker 6: Oh holy well, well that was humiliating.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Charlie. Now we know why I became a
Speaker 4: judge and not a politician.
Speaker 6: Where the hell are we.
Speaker 5: To a unanimous decision? Not going to happen, your honor,
Speaker 5: But we can still get this done. How do you
Speaker 5: feel about Justice Powell's demands?
Speaker 4: I feel sick about them. Thank you very much, as
Speaker 4: do Douglas and Marshall.
Speaker 5: Sir, but I think maybe maybe we could compromise enough
Speaker 5: to get Powell on board without completely losing the Liberals.
Speaker 5: As for Justice, Wife and.
Speaker 4: Stewarts, Whizzer and Potter are lost causes if we don't
Speaker 4: alienate their good Christ.
Speaker 6: What are these names?
Speaker 4: It sounds like the cast of a children's play. Anyway,
Speaker 4: Wizards completely beyond redemption. I'm afraid I agree you Runner,
Speaker 4: So that puts us at a very very shaky five
Speaker 4: for sir.
Speaker 6: Not good enough. It may have to be, sir, Nope,
Speaker 6: let's keep working. Knock Warren, mister Chief Justice. Hello, don't
Speaker 6: get up. What can I do for you? Warren?
Speaker 11: Word around here, Harry, is that you've been doing some
Speaker 11: horse trading.
Speaker 6: I learned from the best. I don't get it.
Speaker 11: Why are you trying so hard on this one?
Speaker 6: Don't think you've escaped. I'm coming for you next. What
Speaker 6: on earth has gotten into you? I need your vote, Warren,
Speaker 6: and I intend to get it.
Speaker 12: Oh Lord, I can see through the window. The rain
Speaker 12: is coming. She's a talker.
Speaker 6: I'll be on the sidewalk. Keep it brief, Sarah. Remember
Speaker 6: it's a numbers game.
Speaker 12: Hi, Lorraine, how you doing, Sarah Weddington?
Speaker 13: What are you doing on my porch? Come in, come in.
Speaker 14: I'd love to, but my campaign manager would have my head.
Speaker 14: That's him on the sidewalk.
Speaker 12: There, Payson campaign manager. That's right. I'm running for the
Speaker 12: state House and i'd love your vote. Lorraine.
Speaker 14: Here, take this literature. I'm dropping it off for everyone
Speaker 14: in the district. How about you give it a read?
Speaker 13: Of course, give it here.
Speaker 12: Thanks Lorraine. I gotta go, but let's have dinner somenight. Okay.
Speaker 13: Oh, i'd love that. We haven't seen Ron in ages?
Speaker 12: Oh yet?
Speaker 13: What ever happened with that big case you went to
Speaker 13: Washington for, Sarah?
Speaker 12: Good question. I guess they'll get around to making a
Speaker 12: decision one of these days.
Speaker 2: Ah.
Speaker 13: Must be hard not knowing if you won or lost.
Speaker 13: You probably put a lot of work into that.
Speaker 14: Huh just a bit anyway, Thanks for your support. I
Speaker 14: got about a million more.
Speaker 13: Ho good luck, Honey, your honor.
Speaker 6: Do you have a second, Charlie, sit down? Look this over?
Speaker 6: Will you tell me if the language is clear?
Speaker 5: Yes, sir, I actually have something that I think you
Speaker 5: need to hear. Well, spit it out, you know how
Speaker 5: We've been trying to sway Justice Stewart to our side
Speaker 5: for weeks.
Speaker 4: Yes, Charlie, I'm aware Potter Stewart won't even read the
Speaker 4: damn thing. I've done everything short of show up at
Speaker 4: his house and read it to him as a bedtime story.
Speaker 5: I have reason to believe he may be swayable.
Speaker 4: Stuart m doubtful appointed by a Republican when against all
Speaker 4: the equal protection cases. But your honor even more relevant
Speaker 4: for us, he dissented in Griswold in the ground said
Speaker 4: he didn't believe the right to privacy exists in the
Speaker 4: fourteenth Amendment.
Speaker 5: I know all that, sir, but I've just found out
Speaker 5: some interesting information, the kind that suggests the marble that
Speaker 5: just a Stewart vote is etchedon.
Speaker 4: Might have a few cracks, the marble that when you're
Speaker 4: on the Supreme Court someday, Charlie, which you no doubt
Speaker 4: will be, you can savor it when you have pertinent information,
Speaker 4: but while you're still a clerk out with it.
Speaker 5: Apologies, sir, my information isn't regarding Stewart exactly. It's his wife.
Speaker 6: No, No, absolutely not. Whatever it is. I'm not interested.
Speaker 4: Family crosses the line Charlie, I wouldn't want other justices
Speaker 4: discussing Dottie.
Speaker 5: Missus Blackman doesn't volunteer for Planned parenthood, Your honor.
Speaker 6: What did you just say?
Speaker 5: Justice Stewart's wife has been volunteering out of Virginia branch
Speaker 5: of Planned Paranhaud for years.
Speaker 6: Well, that's very interesting.
Speaker 5: I gotta think Stuart's vote is up for grabs, Your honor.
Speaker 5: Perhaps a deal can be made, and if it can,
Speaker 5: then it would be six votes solid majority, sir, and
Speaker 5: could maybe sway the chief too. We'd have to play
Speaker 5: it just right, Yes, your Honor, I agree.
Speaker 4: I can't go directly to Steward because it'll get right
Speaker 4: back to Warren, and Warren will immediately bring Stuart into line.
Speaker 5: I can backchannel with one of Stuart's clerks, Sir.
Speaker 4: No, all four of his clerks are suck ups to Warren.
Speaker 4: They'd love nothing more than to go running to him.
Speaker 4: I may have another idea.
Speaker 6: How's your backstroke, Charlie, Justice Stewart, Can I help you?
Speaker 5: It's Charlie, Sir, Justice Blackman's clerk.
Speaker 2: What are you doing here?
Speaker 7: You work out of this gym?
Speaker 5: I got a day pass, your Honor. I was hoping
Speaker 5: we could speak.
Speaker 2: What's this all about, Charlie. This is a little too
Speaker 2: cloak and dagger for my liking.
Speaker 5: I'm very sorry, your honor. As you know, Justice Blackman
Speaker 5: is attempting to assemble a majority on Row.
Speaker 2: What exactly do you have to say to me that
Speaker 2: can't be said in my chambers in an hour, Sir.
Speaker 5: Justice Blackman is willing to compromise if he comes to
Speaker 5: your chambers. He knows that whatever he says will go
Speaker 5: right back to the Chief. Your clerks are close with
Speaker 5: Justice Berger, Sir.
Speaker 2: I see what sort of compromise is your boss thinking.
Speaker 5: Timing, Your honor, excuse me. We know your feelings on
Speaker 5: the Fourteenth Amendments limitations, but we're hoping you feel some
Speaker 5: flexibility on how far those limits extend. For instance, what
Speaker 5: if abortion were legal in the first trimester of a
Speaker 5: pregnancy across the nation?
Speaker 2: What the hell is a trimester?
Speaker 5: We know that it's never been used in this context before, sir,
Speaker 5: but from Justice Blackman's research at Mayo, it seems to
Speaker 5: him a fertile place for compromise. Doctors already break pregnancies
Speaker 5: into three periods during the first trimester, when the procedure
Speaker 5: is much safer than actually giving birth. We wouldn't allow
Speaker 5: state governments to restrict abortions in the second trimester there
Speaker 5: are slightly more risks. Will let states protect the other
Speaker 5: by enacting regulations as long as they're reasonable.
Speaker 2: And the third trimester? What does your boss say about that?
Speaker 5: His research indicates that by the final third of the
Speaker 5: pregnancy the fetus is viable. Therefore will allow the state
Speaker 5: to protect the prenatal life if it wishes. Interesting justice,
Speaker 5: Blackman thought that might be a compromise. You could get
Speaker 5: on board with your honor? Was he right?
Speaker 2: How soon can Harry turn around a new draft, one
Speaker 2: that reflects this trimester idea?
Speaker 5: Is that a yes, your honor, it's.
Speaker 2: A maybe, son, But more than anything, this needs to
Speaker 2: get done fast. You have no idea How much I
Speaker 2: hear about this at home every night?
Speaker 5: Yes, sir, but there's a bit of a hold up
Speaker 5: with the revision, sir. What hold up the chief, sir?
Speaker 5: He's still refusing to come down on either side. It
Speaker 5: appears that he's stalling.
Speaker 2: Why on earth would Warren be stalling?
Speaker 4: We got steaks here, get your steaks medium, rare, nice
Speaker 4: and hot.
Speaker 6: We got burgers.
Speaker 5: We got cheeseburgers.
Speaker 6: Take your picks.
Speaker 15: Someone's in a good mood, Dottie.
Speaker 4: It turns out the way of the world was a
Speaker 4: lot to carry around cheeseburger from my love.
Speaker 15: Oh, I could get used to this.
Speaker 6: The end is nigh, Dottie. I can almost taste it.
Speaker 15: Oh, that's wonderful, sweetheart. And how did you do it?
Speaker 15: How did you convince the others to come on board?
Speaker 6: Compromise resolved? My natural charm? I got it all, baby,
Speaker 6: We had the majority locked up. I just need a
Speaker 6: straggler to come on board. Let me guess who you
Speaker 6: know exactly who the question is? Why I haven't figured
Speaker 6: that one out yet.
Speaker 15: Oh, I'll get it. It's probably Ron and Belle. I'm
Speaker 15: across the street, Harry. We've got visitors.
Speaker 6: Justice Blackman, Hello, who are you?
Speaker 5: Special Agent Ambler?
Speaker 6: FBI?
Speaker 5: This is special Agent Cutters.
Speaker 15: Has something happened?
Speaker 6: Not at all, Man.
Speaker 5: We didn't mean to frighten you.
Speaker 6: Believe me, she's not frightened. Why have you gentlemen come
Speaker 6: to my home stake?
Speaker 5: Smell delicious, Justice Blackman, you must speak quite a chef.
Speaker 6: What exactly can't wait until I'm at the courthouse.
Speaker 5: This is a courtesy call, your honor. Think of it
Speaker 5: as a consultation.
Speaker 15: Consultation about what justice Blackman.
Speaker 5: It's no secret that you're drafting the opinion on Roe v.
Speaker 10: Wade.
Speaker 4: If you come down against the abortion laws, you and
Speaker 4: your family can expect to receive scores of death threats.
Speaker 4: Our daughters too, Yes, missus Blackman, Nancy, Sally and Susan.
Speaker 6: Two now hold on a moment.
Speaker 5: Like I said, this is merely a security consultation, your honor.
Speaker 15: Harry, put down the spatulot, come inside. Let's all sit
Speaker 15: down and discuss this.
Speaker 6: Dottie. They're trying to frighten us, your honor, Please don't.
Speaker 4: My wife and I are well aware of the controversy,
Speaker 4: Agent Ambler.
Speaker 6: We live in the real world. We read the news,
Speaker 6: watch TV same as you. We know what's coming, Harry.
Speaker 15: They're just trying to help.
Speaker 4: No, Dottie, they're trying to scare us, Agent Ambler. Tell
Speaker 4: mister Nixon and his Attorney General that we will not
Speaker 4: be intimidated by foot soldiers of the Justice Department into
Speaker 4: thinking twice about striking down the law they support.
Speaker 5: I think you misunderstand our attention.
Speaker 6: Your honor.
Speaker 4: Yeah, maybe maybe not. My only question is how does
Speaker 4: the president know where we stand? But I think I
Speaker 4: can work that one out on my own. Dottie, please
Speaker 4: show these agents to the door.
Speaker 15: I think they can find it themselves. Goodbye, gentlemen.
Speaker 10: Never going to happen, Sarah, I hear that a lot. Mike,
Speaker 10: there's time. Take my word for it. You only just
Speaker 10: won your election. You're a freshman legislator. You don't have
Speaker 10: the juice to get this.
Speaker 12: Through, but you do, Mike. That's why I came to you.
Speaker 12: You've been in the state House. What two hundred three
Speaker 12: hundred years?
Speaker 10: You do really asking a favor of me? Right?
Speaker 14: The public is in favor of this bill. Every poll
Speaker 14: shows people want to legalize abortion.
Speaker 12: We even compromised on we.
Speaker 10: Cannot legalize abortion this way. Your opponents may be in
Speaker 10: the minority, but they scare people. No representative here will
Speaker 10: take this up, but especially not while the Supreme Court
Speaker 10: is still deciding the issue. Hell, it's your case they're deciding, Sarah.
Speaker 12: I'll go gray waiting for them to make up their minds. Mike,
Speaker 12: Let's go around them. Let's push this bill through.
Speaker 10: Never going to happen. I know you're frustrated, Sarah. But
Speaker 10: the court will announce their decision soon. We'll know if
Speaker 10: you want a lost and we can go from there. Okay,
Speaker 10: just try to relax.
Speaker 6: Thanks for meeting me.
Speaker 11: How do you even know about this place, Harry?
Speaker 6: The floors are.
Speaker 4: Sticky, Susan recommended it. Things have been tense in the courthouse.
Speaker 4: I thought this might be a place we could speak freely.
Speaker 11: I see, so this conversation won't be tense.
Speaker 6: Then that's up to you, Warren. You've had quite a
Speaker 6: few weeks. What's the count now?
Speaker 11: Six ' to two in your favor. If I didn't
Speaker 11: know better, i'd say you were a natural politician.
Speaker 6: Harry. Come on now, no insults. You know I don't
Speaker 6: mean it as one. Fine. I hope you know that.
Speaker 4: I don't think any less of you, Warren, simply because
Speaker 4: you know how to get things done.
Speaker 6: Sure you do. But that's all right.
Speaker 11: You've always looked down on me, airy because I worked
Speaker 11: as an insurance salesman while you were at Harvard.
Speaker 5: It's okay.
Speaker 11: I don't feel a bit ashamed. I ended up here
Speaker 11: because I get things done. It's how you ended up
Speaker 11: here too, If we're being honest.
Speaker 6: You mean you got me my seat.
Speaker 11: No, I mean I made you a damn judge in
Speaker 11: the first place. Do you think you ever would have
Speaker 11: considered the bench if I hadn't encouraged you. I shaped
Speaker 11: every step of your career, Harry. I miss Minnesota more
Speaker 11: and more. I used to live for our early morning hikes.
Speaker 11: It was a reason to get out of bed. Remember
Speaker 11: how much we used to worry about whether we'd ever
Speaker 11: make our mark on the world. Harry. I believe our
Speaker 11: fifteen year old selves would be awfully proud of our
Speaker 11: sixty year old selves.
Speaker 4: I don't deny you've shaped my career, Warren. You don't
Speaker 4: see it, but you help shape this decision too.
Speaker 6: What does that mean?
Speaker 4: Your mother raised you all by herself. She practically raised
Speaker 4: us together. It's from her that I learned the burdens
Speaker 4: face by a single mother.
Speaker 11: Wow, bringing my mother into it, that's pretty low.
Speaker 6: It's time to come on board, Warren. I need your vote.
Speaker 11: I read your latest draft, Harry. It's an improvement, but
Speaker 11: it's still a mess. An implicit right to privacy. I
Speaker 11: may not have gone to Harvard, but even I know
Speaker 11: how weak that is.
Speaker 4: I would have They're based it on the guarantee of
Speaker 4: equal protection, but I would have lost two votes plus yours.
Speaker 6: I haven't decided my vote yet. I'm aware of that, Warren.
Speaker 4: Everyone is aware of that, and we're not getting off
Speaker 4: these stools until you do tell me.
Speaker 11: Is it just to distinguish yourself from me?
Speaker 6: What are you talking about?
Speaker 11: Pretty extreme, Harry, becoming the architect of the pro abortion movement,
Speaker 11: just so people don't think you're in my pocket and
Speaker 11: to make me look like.
Speaker 4: A fool, That's not the reason, Warrant. I'm sorry he
Speaker 4: didn't end up choosing you for the vice.
Speaker 6: Presidency, Sure you were, Ry. Nixon is the reason you
Speaker 6: haven't taken a position.
Speaker 4: Yet, isn't me. You're terrified of embarrassing the president. If
Speaker 4: a court on which Nixon appointed half the members, including
Speaker 4: the chief, comes down on the pro choice side, he'll
Speaker 4: be humiliated. And you're about to swear him in for
Speaker 4: his second term. You have to look Nixon in the
Speaker 4: eye and account for what your court did.
Speaker 11: You're out of bounds, Harry. If any other justice spoke
Speaker 11: to me like that.
Speaker 4: But I'm not any other justice, Warren, and you wouldn't
Speaker 4: try to manipulate any other justice the way You've tried
Speaker 4: to manipulate.
Speaker 6: Me, And what does that mean?
Speaker 4: You assign this decision to me when it wasn't even
Speaker 4: yours to assign. If Douglas had written it as he
Speaker 4: rightfully should have, it would have been handed down months ago.
Speaker 4: You wanted it delayed, and you wanted to control it
Speaker 4: so you could maintain power but not have the burden
Speaker 4: of your name on the decision that tears this country apart.
Speaker 4: I'm sorry it hasn't worked out that way.
Speaker 6: You don't know what you're talking about, Harry. Everything you
Speaker 6: said is right, Warren.
Speaker 4: I did become a judge because I saw my lifelong
Speaker 4: best friend do it. I did get my seat on
Speaker 4: this court because you whispered my name in the right ear.
Speaker 4: And if you think that puts me in your debt,
Speaker 4: you're probably right about that also. But none of that
Speaker 4: matters right now. I have a six vote coalition. It's
Speaker 4: currently being held together by a rubber band and some
Speaker 4: masking tape.
Speaker 6: You're the Chief Justice.
Speaker 4: You need to make a decision, and you need to
Speaker 4: do it in the next twenty four hours.
Speaker 6: You'll get it when I'm ready. No, now, I'll get
Speaker 6: it tomorrow. Warren.
Speaker 4: Make a choice or so help me, I will deliver
Speaker 4: an eight man decision and the Chief Justice's name will
Speaker 4: be left off. The most important Supreme Court decision of
Speaker 4: the century. After that, you'll really wish you got the
Speaker 4: nod for the vice presidency because your political weight will
Speaker 4: rank somewhere between Bob Hope and the lady who does
Speaker 4: a bounty paper towel commercials. Tomorrow, Warren, the decision isn't perfect,
Speaker 4: and guess what.
Speaker 6: Neither are we.
Speaker 16: Protesters and supporters alike are lined up outside the United
Speaker 16: States Supreme Court this afternoon as a decision in the
Speaker 16: most hotly debated case in years is set to be delivered.
Speaker 16: In an unusual move, Justice Harry Blackman, who wrote the
Speaker 16: majority opinion, will read the decision from the bench alone.
Speaker 16: The overflowing courtroom is filled with reporters ready to take
Speaker 16: down his every word. Letters have been pouring into the courthouse,
Speaker 16: mostly addressed to Justice black Men, at the rate of
Speaker 16: three thousand a day. Court insiders say the tone of
Speaker 16: the letters is extremely vitriolic. One such letter urged Justice
Speaker 16: Blackman's immediate resignation from the court if he strikes down
Speaker 16: the abortion laws. Justice Blackman is said to have sent
Speaker 16: a reply to the letter. Dear sir, no, sincerely, Harry
Speaker 16: a black man.
Speaker 15: Harry, sweetheart, you ready for this?
Speaker 6: Absolutely not.
Speaker 15: Do you want to hear some good news?
Speaker 6: Lyndon Johnson just died, Dottie. I disagreed with the man,
Speaker 6: but I hardly wish to know.
Speaker 15: What I mean is maybe no one will even notice.
Speaker 15: Rowade LBJ will take up all the ink tomorrow. You
Speaker 15: don't look comforted, Harry.
Speaker 4: Tell me I'm making the right decision, Dottie.
Speaker 15: I can't do that, sweetheart, No one can.
Speaker 4: We're a Republican appointed court that's about to strike down
Speaker 4: the abortion laws. That has to be a good thing, right.
Speaker 4: It shows we're independent. We're not beholden to the political
Speaker 4: party that appointed us. Because the moment that changes, it's over.
Speaker 4: That'll be the end of the people's belief and our
Speaker 4: ability to decide what's just based on the merits will
Speaker 4: become just as politic is the other two branches of government.
Speaker 15: That's a worry for another day. Harry, Now go do this.
Speaker 4: Welcome, Let's get down to it, shall we, black men,
Speaker 4: h delivering the opinion of the court, we forthwith acknowledge
Speaker 4: our awareness of the sensitive and emotional nature of the
Speaker 4: abortion controversy, and of the vigorous opposing views, and of
Speaker 4: the deep and seemingly absolute convictions that the.
Speaker 3: Subject inspires the Texas statutes under attack here?
Speaker 14: All right, everyone, everybody approximately, Hey, yes.
Speaker 15: He's reading the decision.
Speaker 7: Sarah.
Speaker 14: You will write overtones and to complicate and not to
Speaker 14: simplify the problem.
Speaker 3: One's philosophy, one's exposure to the raw edges of human experience,
Speaker 3: one's religious training, one's attitudes towards life and family, and
Speaker 3: the moral standards one establishes and seeks to observe are
Speaker 3: all likely to influence one's thinking about abortion. Today, we
Speaker 3: assert that the right of privacy is broad enough to
Speaker 3: encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. Fantastical?
Speaker 12: What do you just think? Did I hear that rush?
Speaker 9: It's more than we hoped for, Sarah.
Speaker 13: This we want, my God, we want.
Speaker 3: I choose to read opinion from the bench to provide
Speaker 3: immediate information to those state legislators still in session who
Speaker 3: might want to begin revising or appealing their laws.
Speaker 6: It is so ordered.
Speaker 16: It's an unmitigated victory for the freedom of choice and
Speaker 16: the triumph of principle over partisan politics, Justices Marshall, Stuart Brennan,
Speaker 16: Douglas Powell, and Chief Justice Warren Berger all joining with
Speaker 16: Justice Harry Blackman in the majority. It appears that the
Speaker 16: lead attorney, Sarah Weddington, who was already the youngest woman
Speaker 16: ever to argue before the Supreme Court, has just become
Speaker 16: the youngest person ever to win year. Given that it
Speaker 16: was her very first case and she had apparently never
Speaker 16: even been inside a courtroom before, It's an astonishing feat
Speaker 16: and a record likely to stand for some time. With
Speaker 16: partisan politics encroaching more and more into the nation's hallooed institutions,
Speaker 16: perhaps Ms Weddington's record will persist even longer than today's
Speaker 16: decision will stand.
Speaker 1: Supreme. The Battle Farrow from iHeart Podcasts, created and written
Speaker 1: by Aaron Tracy, directed by Rachel Winter, starring Maya Hawk,
Speaker 1: William h. Macy, and Abigail Breslin, also featuring Laura Bonanti
Speaker 1: as b Andrea Savage as deb William Fickner as Warren
Speaker 1: Felicity Huffman as Dottie, Garrett Hedlund as Ron, Sophia Macy
Speaker 1: as Sally, Veronica Slowakowska as Susie Charlie B. Foster as Charlie,
Speaker 1: Peter Oldring as j Floyd, Luke Kirby as Roy Lacrisia
Speaker 1: Brown as Grace Kim Yancy Moore as Wanda, Megan Grant
Speaker 1: as Polly Jin Colella as Annette Tearsa Mans as Doctor Kaplan,
Speaker 1: Ashley as Q as Katie, Aaron Cavitt as Mikey, Joe
Speaker 1: Costa as Justice Thurgood Marshall, Ryan Beale as Sam Josh
Speaker 1: Hamilton as Reverend Wriggle, Aaron Tracy as Justice Brennan, Sam
Speaker 1: Stump as Justice Powell, Richard Newman as Justice Stewart, Bill
Speaker 1: Moundy as Justice White, Jacob Vonichael as George, James Naughton
Speaker 1: as Representative Simmons, Chris Redman as FBI Agent Ambler, and
Speaker 1: Katie Couric as the Reporter. Additional performances by Dante Bonner,
Speaker 1: Mark Chavez, Andrew Barber, Samuel Farnsworth, s a Ottowell, Amy
Speaker 1: Good Murphy, Kira Naughton, Paul Teduskiny, Karen Foreman, Sarah Ericksson,
Speaker 1: Barbara Pollard, Mattie Kelly, Melanie Harrison, Suzanne pot Rock, David
Speaker 1: carl Christine Borderlin, Angela Gallanapolis, Sabrina Brathwaite, Katie Jensen, Katie Lore,
Speaker 1: Pat Kelly and Max Collins. Executive produced by Eva Longoria,
Speaker 1: Ben Spector, Rachel Winter and Aaron Tracy, as well as
Speaker 1: Katrina Norvell and Emma Stump from iHeart produced by Kelly
Speaker 1: and Kelly. Executive producers for Kelly and Kelly are Chris Kelly,
Speaker 1: Lauren Berkovich and Pat Kelly. Produced by Tamara Black for
Speaker 1: Kelly and Kelly. Director of Audio Chris Kelly. Original score
Speaker 1: by Hamilton Leitthhauser and Anna Stump. Sound designed by Paul
Speaker 1: TEDUSKINI edited by Max Collins. Narration by Lucritia Brown. For
Speaker 1: a full list of credits, please see show notes.
Speaker 8: This is a production of Unbelievable Entertainment in partnership with iHeartRadio.