THE JUDICIARY: The Living Must Judge

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...