All the Justices' Women
A Post a Day in May 10/31
DATE: Mid-April 2022
SCENE ONE: A women’s washroom, in the basement of the US Supreme Court Building, One First Street, NE, Washington, DC
Nasty Woman 1: “I don’t think I can do this much longer, knowing what’s at stake.”
NW2: “You think you’ve got it hard? Think of me, right in there with her, having to feign support for what she’s writing!”
NW3: “We went to law school to change the world, but not like this. We have to do something, but we’re not the ones with power here. We witness and support, but we’re not in charge.”
NW2: “Right, sure. Not of the writing or the thinking, but I’ve had an idea brewing in the back of my mind…”
NW1: “…and we do have access in ways that no one else has, because of our clerking duties.”
NW3: “I don’t have the nerve to actually do anything, but I am so scared.”
NW2: “But how will we feel in ten years or even in one year if we don’t try to do something. I have an outside contact who’s interested if I can get him something to work with.”
NW1: “Ok then! So many people have had the draft decision pass through their hands or across their desk. One of them must be willing to help us do what’s right for the women of this land. Maybe Evan in the mailroom would help us?”
NW2: “He’s scared of spiders, but I bet Cristina, the super admin, would be up for some righteous action. After all, she was brave enough to wear her pussy hat to work on Trump’s inauguration day. I’ll invite her for coffee and feel her out.”
SCENE TWO: The cafeteria
NW2: “I’m going to talk very animatedly as if I were describing a date with my boyfriend, but listen closely because I’m describing a date with DESTINY instead. Just nod if you understand.”
Cristina nods
NW2: “I need to get my hands on a copy of the big decision being drafted by the majority knuckleheads. Obviously, I’m not asking you to help me… [looks directly at Cristina and takes a bite of her cookie, chews, looks away, then turns back] …If you get my drift, pick up your coffee cup and put it back down again without taking a sip.”
Cristina picks up her coffee cup and, without taking a sip, puts it back down again.
NW2: “OK, thanks for meeting me. I need to get back to my desk. If you want to meet DESTINY, come to the 3rd floor washroom tomorrow morning at 8:40, with whatever you can bring — if you know what I mean.”
Cristina looks at NW2, hard; then smiles, turns, and leaves the cafeteria, coffee cup in hand.
SCENE THREE: 3rd floor washroom, 8:40 the next morning
NW1 is inside the stairwell, keeping watch. NW3 is at the elevator, keeping watch. NW2 is in the washroom, second stall on the left. Super admin Cristina approaches the washroom door from down the hallway, where her office is. She strides into the washroom with confidence borne of strength and courage. She pushes the door closed behind her and leans firmly against it. Keeping her right hand on the door, she leans down and looks for legs below the stall doors. She sees NW2’s trademark Blundstone boots in the second stall on the left. Cristina coughs. NW2 opens the door.
Neither woman says a word.
Cristina reaches behind her and pulls out a large brown envelope from the back of her pants waistband. It’s not as thick as NW2 expected. Cristina holds up a hand-written note that explains: ‘Took pics of the doc on a burner phone. Took till well past midnight, but worth it. Made a scan and printed it at home. Font is small but any journalist worth the byline would kill for this, even in 9-point font.’
NW2 takes the envelope and tucks it down the back of her pants waistband. The women lock eyes, then Cristina opens the door and strides out. NW2 waits 45 seconds and leaves the washroom, heading straight for the stairwell. NW1 and NW3 have melted away, back to their respective desks.
SCENE FOUR: Same day, 8 p.m. The stop at South Capitol Street for the No. 32 bus.
POLITICO reporter Josh Gerstei is waiting, as he always does on a weekday, for the 32 bus that gets him home after a long day of investigative digging. When he sees NW2, his bus-riding buddy, approach, his spider senses switch to high alert mode. He has no good reason to believe she will have been able to pull off what she nervously whispered to him about a while back, but his news-writing partner, Alexander War, is virtually holding his breath for it to happen.
So, as always, Josh makes small talk with NW2 until the bus arrives. Unlike always, she is holding tight to a shopping bag in her left hand. She doesn’t put it on the ground; she doesn’t sling it over her shoulder. Her hand is like a lock on that bag.
The bus arrives. They get on and head to the back row, where they always sit, because the engine sound from beneath the rear of the bus helps mask their conversation.
NW2 stuffs the grocery bag between them and releases her grip on it. She doesn’t return his banter, but instead says curtly, “I need you to carry my groceries. They’re too heavy for me, way too heavy. In fact, just take them.” And, with that, she gets off the bus several stops earlier than usual.
Josh can almost not breathe, he is so excited about what might potentially be in the bag. But he holds it together, gets off the bus at his usual stop, and saunters home, with the bag held tight in his left hand.
SCENE FIVE: Inside Joe’s apartment, door double locked, blinds drawn.
Joe looks in the shopping bag and finds a brown envelope at the bottom, hidden under a couple of cabbages, some carrots and a pound or more of potatoes. He holds his breath, opens the envelope and sees what he had not dared hope for: the Supreme Court’s draft decision in the Roe v Wade case (in the smallest font size imaginable, but good investigative journalists take what they’re given and work with it). He texts Alexander to come over for a beer, and the rest, as they say, is history…in the making.
We’ll have to wait until June to see if the risks taken by the Nasty Women change the course of the regressive history that Trump’s appointees to the Supreme Court want to set in place.
According to law professor Stephen Gilles: “A lot of people have access, the justices themselves. So a draft opinion like this would be circulated to all nine chambers. The justice sees it, the justice's secretary or administrative assistants see it, the justice's law clerks, in all likelihood see it. And then there may be some other administrative and staff people in the court, I think I saw the number as many as 70, may have had access to it. So it will not be easy, I think, to quickly identify who leaked it.” Source: NBC Connecticut
POLITICO reporters Josh Gerstei and Alexander War broke the story.
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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.
I greatly enjoyed reading this, Amanda. Well done !
ReplyDeleteDanielle
could have happened that way ... might have should have
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