The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [59]
“How does he know it’ll be assigned to him?”
“He already spoke to Moloch and Kovacs, and they don’t want to touch it. Whether he’s in the majority or the dissent, Hollis’ll be the most senior justice who wants to write the decision.”
“Any word yet on whether Veidt has hopped the fence?”
“They’ll know tomorrow. Hollis said Veidt is having dinner with Osterman and Blake tonight.”
“Ah, another Supreme Court case is going to be decided based on how hard one justice schmoozes another.”
“Welcome to Washington.”
“Gee, thanks,” Ben said. “You’re so politically astute. Now I know how this town works. And all along I foolishly thought it was democracy that ran our nation.”
“Listen, when I first got to law school, I always used to say that if the Supreme Court was really about true justice, then every issue, no matter who was on the Court, would come out with the same result. If Roe v. Wade granted abortion rights in 1973, then the decision shouldn’t be overturned just because some conservative justices came onto the Court. But over time, I’ve realized that that’s the beauty of the law. We decide each case individually. No fact pattern is exactly the same, and every justice takes all the different facts into account. If we wanted the same decision every time, we wouldn’t need judges—we’d get robots we could plug the facts into, who could reach the same cold, logical decision. But who the hell wants a robot deciding their life?”
“That depends—are they conservative or liberal robots?”
“That’s exactly my point. Stop seeing everything in black and white. No two people see anything exactly the same way. That’s what makes it great. We sacrifice ourselves to people’s particular mores, but we gain an individualized judicial system. I mean, would you really want to live in a world where there were no Ostermans or Veidts?”
“Actually, I probably would,” Ben said. “But I guess that would also mean that the entire madras golf pants market would crash.”
“Ben, be serious.”
“I know, I know,” he said, picking at the hardened remains of his croissant. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t be annoyed when a case is decided on personal politics.”
“No, you should definitely be annoyed. But just realize that the personal side of the judicial process also provides a lot of benefits that ensure democracy as we know it.”
“That’s wonderful, General Washington. I’ll keep that in mind every time I tell the story of how Veidt sold his vote away.”
Chapter 8
LATER THAT EVENING, BEN AND LISA RETURNED to Lisa’s apartment, where they found Ober and Nathan waiting outside. “Where the hell were you guys?” Ober asked, running in place. “We’re freezing out here.”
“Why didn’t you wait in the lobby?” Lisa asked.
“Because the asshole doorman wouldn’t let us. He said if our host wasn’t here, we had to wait outside.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Lisa stormed into the building and approached the smiling doorman. “Why the hell do you have my guests waiting outside?”
“Ma’am, their party was not here.”
“I’m their party,” she proclaimed. “And if I’m five minutes late, I don’t want my friends waiting out in the cold.”
“Ma’am, you may be their host, but we do have rules in this building, and no guests are admitted without their host’s approval. As doorman, it is my job to ensure that there is no loitering in our lobby.”
“Oh, it is?”
“Yes, ma’am, it is,” the doorman barked. “The tenants’ association has given me full authority to remove loiterers, vagrants, and other criminal characters from this vicinity.”
“Are you sure about that?” Lisa asked.
“Oh, no,” Ben said, peeking through his fingers. “This is about to get ugly.”
“Let me tell you a few things,” Lisa said, her finger pointed in the doorman’s face. “First, I don’t care who you are, but the moment you have my guests in this building, they become your guests. And if you think you’re authorized to let guests stand out in the cold, you’ve got your head up your ass. This may not be the frozen tundra,