Con Law Read Free Page B

handed down perhaps the most controversial decision in the history of the Court:
Roe v. Wade
. In
Griswold
, the Court said a woman has a fundamental right not to get pregnant. In
Roe
, the Court said a woman has a fundamental right to end a pregnancy. Mr. Stanton, who was the appellee in
Roe
?’
    Mr. Stanton occupied the top row, leaned back in his chair against the wall and dressed like the frat boy he was, his hands buried in his lap and his fingers tapping against his cell phone. Texting in Con Law class. Again, Book held his tongue. Mr. Stanton was smart and rich, and he acted the part. His father was a senior partner in a large Houston firm that had endowed two chairs at the law school. Consequently, Mr. Stanton acted more like a shareholder of the school than a student. The transition from the UT law school to the River Oaks Country Club would be smooth and seamless for E. Roger Stanton Jr.
    ‘Mr. Stanton, if you have a moment, would you please answer the question?’
    Mr. Stanton still did not look up from his phone.
    ‘Sorry, Professor, I’m dumping my Facebook stock I got in the IPO. Henry Wade, the Dallas County district attorney, he was the appellee.’
    ‘Who was the appellant?’
    Still texting.
    ‘Norma McCorvey, aka “Jane Roe, a pregnant single woman.”’
    ‘Who was her lawyer?’
    ‘Uh … I don’t know.’
    ‘Readthe opinion.’
    Mr. Stanton’s eyes lifted to his laptop.
    ‘Sarah Weddington.’
    ‘From what law school did she graduate?’
    ‘Doesn’t say.’
    ‘Anyone?’
    No one.
    ‘Not even you, Ms. Garza?’
    She turned her palms up. ‘I wasn’t born until nineteen ninety.’
    Mr. Stanton, texting again: ‘Didn’t your mother know that abortion was legal in nineteen ninety, even in Del Rio?’
    ‘Not funny, Mr. Stanton.’
    But the class thought he was; they too had grown weary of Ms. Garza. She had been born poor on the border, at the opposite end of the socioeconomic spectrum from Mr. Stanton. She had entered UT an underprivileged female; she had graduated an in-your-face feminist. Book often saw her manning the pro-abortion booth on the West Mall, the free-speech zone on campus. He finally answered his own question, something law professors often had to do.
    ‘Sarah attended this very law school. She graduated in nineteen sixty-seven. Only four years later, she argued
Roe v. Wade
and became the youngest lawyer ever to win a Supreme Court case.’
    The students smiled, as if they could put her victory on their own resumés. Ms. Garza seemed especially proud. Perhaps Sarah the law student had burned hot with the same desire to change the world. She had certainly changed the world; some would argue for the better, some would argue for the worse, but no one could argue that she didn’t change the world. Book had won two search-and-seizure cases at the Supreme Court. Both were groundbreaking—every Supreme Court case is groundbreaking—but neither had changed the world.
    ‘Mr.Stanton, what law did the appellant challenge?’
    Still texting. He did not look up.
    ‘The Texas law that made all abortions criminal acts unless necessary to save the mother’s life.’
    ‘And what did the Court decide?’
    ‘That the law violated Roe’s right of privacy and was thus unconstitutional.’
    ‘Mr. Stanton, in which article of the Bill of Rights is abortion mentioned?’
    ‘It’s not.’
    ‘Why is that?’
    Ms. Garza couldn’t restrain herself.
    ‘Because racist, misogynistic white men who owned slaves and didn’t allow women to vote wrote the Constitution!’
    Mr. Stanton coughed words that sounded like ‘affirmative action.’ His posse of fellow frat boys on the back row laughed. Book did not defend Ms. Garza. She needed no help. She turned in her chair and aimed a finger (not her middle one this time) at Mr. Stanton.
    ‘Your days are numbered, Stanton. Apartheid in America is coming to an end. Enjoy it while you can.’
    ‘I will. In a month, I’ll be lying by the pool