Supreme Court of the United States in fiction

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Like many institutions that draw public interest, the Supreme Court of the United States has frequently been depicted in fiction, frequently in the form of legal drama. In some instances, real decisions rendered by real Courts are dramatized, as in Gideon's Trumpet and the seminal trial in The People vs. Larry Flynt. Other depictions are purely fictional, but center on realistic issues that come before the Court. Television series centered on dramatizing the happenings of the Court have proven to be short-lived, likely due to a combination of legal inaccuracies[1] and overall negative critical reaction[2][3].

1 Television
2 Film
- 2.1 Completely fictional depictions
- 2.2 Fictionalized accounts of real cases/events

[edit] Television

First Monday (13 episodes, starring Joe Mantegna and James Garner)
The Court (3 episodes, starring Sally Field)
Two episodes of The West Wing ("The Short List" in 1999, and "Celestial Navigation" in 2000) center on the nomination of "Roberto Mendoza," played by Edward James Olmos, as the first Hispanic Justice. A third episode, "The Supremes" in 2004, dealt with the issue of preserving ideological balance on the Court. The President makes a deal with the Republican Congress to simultaneously appoint a very liberal judge "Evelyn Baker Lang" (played by Glenn Close) as the Court's first female Chief Justice, and a very conservative judge, "Christopher Mulready" (played by William Fichtner) as an Associate Justice. The 2000 episode "Take This Sabbath Day" opened with a scene depicting the Court's main chamber.
In The Simpsons episode, "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie", Bart Simpson is shown as ultimately becoming Chief Justice of the United States.
In the Picket Fences episode "May It Please the Court", broadcast on November 18, 1994, defense attorney Douglas Wambaugh (played by Fyvush Finkel) and District Attorney John Littleton (played by Don Cheadle) engaged in oral arguments before the Court (with actors playing the real justices); Supreme Court oral argument veteran Alan Dershowitz guest starred as himself, advising Wambaugh on strategy for addressing the Court. The case dealt with the admissibility of a murderer's confession.

[edit] Film

[edit] Completely fictional depictions

First Monday in October - this story about the first woman on the Supreme Court came out in 1981, the year Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman on the court.
The Pelican Brief - a major plot point is the assassination of two fictional Supreme Court Justices.

[edit] Fictionalized accounts of real cases/events

Gideon's Trumpet - fictionalized account of the events of Gideon v. Wainwright.
Amistad - former Justice Harry Blackmun played the role of Justice Joseph Story in this fictionalized account of a real case.
The People vs. Larry Flynt - the film features a fictionalized portrayal of the real case of Hustler Magazine v. Falwell.
Separate But Equal - fictionalized account of the events of the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation case.