The hands on the gilded clock stood precisely at noon when the court crier raised his sepulchral voice: "Oyez, oyez . . . draw near . . . God save the United States and this Honorable Court." Red curtains parted and into the hushed chamber walked the black-gowned justices of the Supreme Court of the U.S. Led by sad-faced Chief Justice Vinson, they took their high-backed seats, variously shaped and padded to fit their various curves.
Only William Orville Douglas, the justice with the cowlick and the friendly grin, was absent; he had...
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