The Supreme Court as TV drama: Yeah right

Hey, I’m a big James Garner fan and Joe Mantegna is pretty good in my book as well. But I have to wonder what the heck CBS and producer Donald Bellisario (JAG, Quantum Leap, Magnum PI, Battlestar Gallactica) were thinking when they gave the greenlight to First Monday. This show, coming Jan. 15, will attempt to dramatize the US Supreme Court. Think about that last sentence for a minute.

What does the Supreme Court actually do in the process of rendering decisions that, as the publicity remarks, effect every American? Remember that before this there has been a trial and at least one appeal; also, the appellant must cite a constitutional error worthy of the Supreme Court’s consideration. The court is asked to hear thousands of appeals each year but only hears around 100.

If a case makes it past this stiff hurdle, both parties to the dispute (defendant and prosecutor or plaintiff and defendant) and often many interested third parties (via amicus curiae briefs) file lots of paperwork. A sitting is scheduled for the parties to appear before the court between the first Monday in October and the end of April on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. (with a break for lunch) during a two week period each month. When the great day arrives, each side is allotted no more than 30 minutes to make a presentation. So you can see one reason why so few cases actually get heard–there are only 168 potential slots a year!

The rules of procedure during the actual hearing are quite precise and intense and completely focused on allowing the justices (never refer to them as judges) to get information they want without wasting a moment of time. Generally the justices will not allow an attorney to make a prepared presentation but will interrupt at any time with questions and the attorney best stop speaking immediately when a justice so much as clears his throat.

After the hearing, the justices have a preliminary discussion and then one justice is assigned to prepare an opinion, most of which is actually done by one of the justice’s clerks, which lays out the thinking and precedents underlying the decision. The draft is circulated and other justices, particularly if they disagree with the preliminary decision, may prepare their own opinions. In the end, the justices vote on the question at hand and this becomes the official holding. Justices may sign one of the opinions or publish their own and only if five or more justices sign an opinion does the opinion become official precedent.

So, having laid this all out, from where do Bellisario and CBS execs expect the dramatic tension to come? Fistfights in the courtroom between Greenpeace and oil industry lawyers or between liberal and conservative court clerks? This is all about a process that is largely on paper, a brief Q&A, and some occasionally heated discussion. I wonder how much they will try to do with dramatic music, facial expressions, and hand gestures to overcome the inherent passiveness of the material.

Amusingly, this is not the only show that will completely fail to succeed on this topic. ABC is readying “The Court” starring Sally Field and Kellie Martin for a late March debut. ER/West Wing/Third Watch producer John Wells is behind this one.