The Pelican Brief

Any signs got my name on them?

Quite a few.

What do they say?

The usual.

"Death to Rosenberg."

"Retire Rosenberg."

"Cut off the oxygen."

That's my favorite.

Of course, you, Mr. Grantham...

did pretty good by me your last time out.

"Rosenberg equals the government over business...

the individual over government, the environment over everything...

and the Indians, oh, give them whatever they want."

With all due respect, that wasn't my line, that was a quote.

From one of your unnamed Senior White House officials.

Senior White House bastard, you should have said.

Got in there by...

stirring up these people, one against the other.

Never fails to amaze me...

what a man will do to get an oval office.

Looking for Mr. Sneller.

Yes, Mr. Edwin F. Sneller.

Everything is in place.

All the money must be there when I arrive in Zurich.

It will be there if the job is finished.

It will be finished.

- May I help you? - I'd like to order room service.

- What would you like? - Coffee...

scrambled eggs, whole-wheat toast and orange juice, please.

It'll be about 15 minutes.

Violence for principle, we allow our passion...

to overcome our capacity for reason.

Passion and self-interest are threats to liberty...

which brings us to Bowers against Hardwick.

A police officer entered Mr. Hardwick's apartment to serve him a warrant...

for an unpaid violation for drinking in public.

They caught him with an open beer.

When he entered Mr. Hardwick's bedroom...

he found him in bed with a man.

The officer arrested Hardwick...

for violating Georgia's statute which outlaws sodomy.

Even though Georgia dropped the case...

Hardwick challenged the constitutionality of the statute.

Now, what was his claim?

- That it violates the right of privacy. - Why?

He's got the right to do as he pleases in his home.

But what if he decided to sell drugs at his home or engage in child abuse?

Those actions don't fit within the right of privacy.

The court, beginning with Griswold...

has limited the right of privacy to actions which are intimate...

which are deeply personal, which allow us to control our lives...

to define who we are.

But is that a constitutional claim? There's no...

right to define oneself written into the Constitution.

It's not even in the Bill of Rights.

If the State of Georgia can regulate Hardwick's sexuality...

engaged in private with consenting adults, Hardwick cannot be free.

The Constitution ensures limited government.

If there's no right of privacy and Georgia can enforce the statute...

we sacrifice the liberty the framers thought they'd guaranteed us.

The Supreme Court disagreed with you.

They found that the statute did not violate the right of privacy.

Why?

They're wrong.

So all three of you girls find him irresistible. Why?

Sexual attraction.

You mean he's just got it?

Does he ever!

What you're saying...

is that if you could clone three of him, you'd all be happy.

Okay, tell us, what is your secret?

I'm not sure I can say on TV.

But what I can say is it's a big secret.

A very big secret.

My goodness gracious! I can't believe my ears!

Hope my mom's not watching.

She hopes so too!

Ma, I was just kidding.

Ladies, have you changed your opinion about our stud?

You still like him?

I like big guys!

I think your fan club has increased.

Everything has increased!

They found Rosenberg around 1 A.M.

His nurse was also murdered.

Jensen was found two hours later in some queer club.

Voyles called me, wildly upset. It's hardly good for FBl's reputation.

He and Giminski are on the way.

CIA should be involved, at least for now.

You must wait two hours to address the nation if we want an audience.

A coat and tie may seem a bit rehearsed. How about a cardigan?

You want me to talk to the nation in a time of crisis wearing a sweater?

Mr. President...

I've already told Justice to put together a list of nominees.

Restructuring the court will be your legacy.

Mr. President.

Mr. Voyles, does the FBI have any suspects?

It's too soon.

We'll have ballistics and autopsies later.

I would like to have a report on your security and where it broke down.

You're assuming it broke down.

We have two dead judges, both of whom were being protected by the FBI.

Bob, I'd like a straight answer.

Are these killings in any way linked to the CIA...

or to any other agency of the United States government?

I'm shocked you'd think that.

Bob, just look into it, okay?

I suggest we meet back here at five.

Five, gentlemen. Thank you.

It's rally-around-the-leader time.

Your approval ratings will go through the roof.

That's the weather in New Orleans. This is Tim Bellew.

We interrupt our program now for a special bulletin.

In a special address, live from the White House...

the President of the United States.

My fellow Americans...

our country has suffered a grievous loss.

Last night...

Supreme Court Justices Rosenberg and Jensen...

were assassinated.

These assassinations may be an attempt to strike at the very fabric...

of our government.

But I can assure each...

and every American...

that these dastardly acts will not go unpunished.

Everything...

is being and will be done to bring the culprit...

or culprits to justice.

Forjustice must...

and shall prevail.

I wish you could have known him when I used to clerk for him.

Last time I saw him, only the mind was left.

That's why they killed him.

That mind was still a threat.

But why kill him now, when he had so little time left?

Maybe they couldn't take a chance he'd last till the elections.

So why Jensen? This President nominated him.

He and Rosenberg had almost nothing in common.

That's what they should look for.

Decisions on which they both agreed.

Boy, if there ever was a moment for a drink...

One day at a time, right?

We're talking a conspiracy, then who are the conspirators?

If we've let foreign terrorists in, there'll be hell to pay politically.

The intelligence community can't be blamed for a weakness in immigration.

Denton...

who are your suspects?

This has to be kept very quiet.

Of course. This is the Oval Office.

At least 11 Underground Army members have been in the DC area...

and we suspect them in at least 100 bombings of abortion clinics...

porno houses, gay clubs all over the country.

The truth is, you don't have a suspect.

Correct?

Watch your claws.

Gray Grantham covers the Supreme Court for the Washington Herald.

You actually interviewed Justice Rosenberg...

before he was shot on, as it turned out, the day he died.

Did he say anything that might shed some light on these dreadful events?

Yes. He spoke about things...

off the record, appropriately for a sitting justice.

But I think it would be appropriate to quote him now.

He said, "The campaign waged by the President was so ruthless..."

In its manipulation of the middle-class fears of minorities...

"had been so exploitive and divisive that it created a climate of distrust."

You know, that Grantham's a man after my own heart.

Everyone wants to know when you're starting classes again.

That includes me.

You know what they say: Drinking makes depression worse.

What do they recommend for anguish? Where've you been?

The library. I studied a printout of the Supreme Court docket.

I even made a list of possible suspects.

And then threw it away because they'd be obvious to everyone.

Then you looked for areas Jensen and Rosenberg had in common.

Exactly.

Jensen generally protected the rights of criminal defendants.

Some notable exceptions.

He wrote 3 majority opinions protective of the environment.

And almost always supported tax protestors.

So they might have been assassinated by an insatiable tax collector?

As yet, I rule no one out.

Everyone is assuming the motive is hatred or revenge.

Or an attempt to influence the social agenda of the court.

What if the issue involved old-fashioned material greed?

A case that involves a great deal of money?

- Can I help you? - I'd like to see this file, please.

Why?

It's public record, isn't it?

Semi-public.

Are you familiar with the Freedom of lnformation Act?

This file has the pleading...

and correspondence. The rest is discovery and the trial.

- When was the trial? - Last summer.

- Went on for 2 months. - Where's the appeal?

Not perfected yet. I think the deadline is August 1st.

So, who done it?

You have some obscure suspect unknown to the FBI and the CIA and...

Secret Service and 10,000 police departments?

I had one...

which I have now discarded.