The Practice (1997–2004): Season 7, Episode 5 - Neighboring Species - full transcript

BERLUTI:
Previously on The Practice...

(glass shatters)

STRINGER: (gasps)

First of all,
what's going on?

Are you leaving?

I'm done.

Retiring.

You're retiring?

I can't make the rent.

I'm being evicted.

(knocks on door)



All set?
I wanna start my own practice.

Start a new practice
in this room?

DOLE: I can take
little collection cases,

contract disputes,
fight parking tickets.

I can even be
my own secretary.

Don't you like it?

Well, yes, uh,

but usually
the personal stuff

is left off the door.

I'll take it off
eventually.

But I want the people
who hire me

to get the idea.

I'm not gonna be here late
or on call at home.

When they see "Mother",



it makes a point.

If I pick him up
after Dr. Ash,

that'll give me time
to go straight--

Bobby, look.

I think it's a client.

That could be
my first client.

Why else would she be
sitting there?

Do you think
she's a client?

Why don't you ask her?

Excuse me.

You're here to see...

Lindsay Dole,

attorney-at-law, mother.

That's me.

How did you hear of me?

Well, I came to see Pat Magee,

but he's not here.

And I saw the door
and I figured

I could see whatever lawyer.

But actually I think
I have heard of you.

Aren't you the lady
who shot somebody?

DOLE: I did, but I beat it.

Technicality.

Come on in.

Okay.

Uh, it wasn't a client
you shot, right?

DOLE: No, no, no.

YOUNG: It doesn't
concern you.

It concerns the firm,

which concerns me, Eugene.

What's going on?

Tell him.

A client came in
last night.

I took the case.

Jimmy doesn't like it.

BERLUTI: The client
does stem cell research.

FRUTT: It's an abatement
proceeding.

What's the big deal?

The big deal is

it's a political hot button

that this firm
doesn't need,

and I think it should have
been discussed.

Oh, come on.

Don't hide behind that.

Why don't you just say it?

You don't like the research.

It isn't that.

FRUTT: A political
hot button?

When have we ever
shied away from a case?

This office was bombed
before, Ellenor.

Yes, by a client
that we defended

on murder charges.

Does that mean
we should shy away

from all homicide cases?

All right.

Eugene?

The city rezoned
to basically

put the center
out of business.

It's all politics and,
I guess, now religion.

It isn't that.

Look, we're all in agreement

that we face some
public-relations obstacles.

We're still getting
hate mail over Lindsay.

Lindsay doesn't work
here anymore.

But people
don't really know that.

Come on. I'm not
being unreasonable.

This could explode
in our faces.

And I think
we should have discussed it.

There wasn't time.

And with all
due respect, Jimmy,

last time
I checked the door,

you weren't listed
as a partner.

Fine.

YOUNG: We're due in at 9:00.

I'll let you know.

Come on.

BERLUTI: Three lawyers?

YOUNG: Yes.
You wanna come?

That'll make 3 1/2.

BERLUTI: Hey, you know what--

DONNELL: Jimmy--

(door closes)

--you provoked that.

My only beef,

I think the firm
should have discussed it first.

This is gonna blow up
in our faces.

(music playing)

That's it?

Just singing?

SHIPP: Well, I sing loud.

I have a big diaphragm.

Jesus Christ, my Savior,

gave me a booming voice
and a big heart,

and I try to use both.

Okay. And your neighbor,

is there bad blood?

No. He's a nice man.

He just doesn't care
for my singing,

which is his right.

I know it's a free country,

to each his own.

But in the spirit
of that freedom,

I should be able to sing, right?

Well, if he's bringing
a nuisance action,

he's basically saying
that you're interfering

with the quiet enjoyment
of his home.

Oh, that's hooey.

He's a loud man himself.

He doesn't enjoy
anything quiet.

You should hear him
watching The Patriots.

That's my goal, by the way,

to one day
sing the national anthem

at a Patriots game.

Okay. Uh, well,

there's a hearing
scheduled for 2:00.

Let's see how we do.

SHIPP: Okay.

I have a very good feel
about you.

I can tell
you're a warm person.

Thank you.

DAVIES: Look, whenever
a zoning ordinance is passed,

somebody invariably
gets put out of business.

That is not
an uncommon result.

YOUNG: It is certainly
uncommon for the city

to sprint off to Court

to enforce that ordinance.

And the impact
on my client

is hardly incidental.

That ordinance was passed

for the express purpose
of closing the door--

Were you in the room,
Mr. Young?

I didn't have to be,
Mr. Davies.

The doors are as transparent
as the motives.

DAVIES: Uh, Mr. Young
is claiming the city

lacks the authority
to rezone districts.

YOUNG: I am not claiming that.

I am saying this ordinance
was arbitrary.

It was promulgated
in bad faith.

It is politics.

And contrary to what Mister--

(printer whirs)

Counsel?

Uh, I apologize.

YOUNG: Your honor,
I call your attention

to Blankenship vs. Michalski,

recently decided in 1957.

The city of Palo Alto

rezoned its permitted-use zones

for the purpose of closing
down a pharmacy.

The Court struck down
the ordinance

as arbitrary and invalid.

It's decidedly on point.

DAVIES: I reiterate,
every time a city zones

or rezones,
somebody claims foul.

Don't insult me, Mr. Davies.

A zoning board burns
the midnight oil

to push this through.

They then dispatch "Top Gun"

to get injunctive relief.

The victim here is a facility

that just happens to do
stem cell research.

Do you really mean to tell me

they're not a target?

DAVIES: Even if
the ordinance was designed

to impact the facility,

and I make no such concession,

I maintain the action

was neither arbitrary

nor capricious.

I want to see the chairman
of the zoning board

in the witness chair.

I beg your pardon?

The motive of the board

is very much in play here,
Mr. Davies.

And from where I sit,
this ordinance smells

like a dead, decaying rat.

Get the chairman
in the hot seat

or you won't like my ruling.

FRUTT: 1957?

STRINGER:
It was on point.

FRUTT: Yes. Decidedly.

We all heard.
YOUNG: Never mind.

Look, the good news is,
obviously,

the Judge seems with us.

The bad news, by calling
an evidentiary hearing,

this thing is headed
for a debate on the merits,

which means
you could be testifying.

Fine.

YOUNG: Not so fine.

Um, uh, no offense,

but in my experience,

scientists make
for lousy witnesses.

I need somebody
to exude passion.

I can do that.

All the same,
I need somebody--

Eugene, I have diabetes.

Both my father
and my grandfather

died of Alzheimer's.

Don't worry about passion.

The press is calling.

Word's already out.

Great.

YOUNG: What? Suddenly
we're afraid of the media?

FRUTT: Our Judge Fox
is a registered Republican.

Did we know that?

YOUNG: So?

So given the
administration's policy

against stem cell research,

she might not favor us
as much as we thought.

Actually, President Bush

very quietly shifted
his policy on that.

They issued a clarification

which allows
for private funding.

That's not exactly true.

There's one other danger.

This case hits
all of the abortion buttons.

Gee.

FRUTT: And since Roe V. Wade
is vulnerable,

which Fox also knows,

I'm concerned about Davies

turning this
into a referendum.

I'm sure they're the ones
who tipped off the press.

DONNELL: Why is Roe
versus Wade vulnerable?

Hello? Have you glanced
at the Supreme Court lately?

Rehnquist, Scalia,

Thomas, Kennedy,

even Sandra Day O'Connor.

This Court could overturn Roe

in the blink of an eye.

Um, actually,
that's not necessarily true.

If you look at Planned
Parenthood versus Casey,

decided in '92,
you'll see Kennedy,

O'Connor, and Souter
all supported Roe.

Wrong.

We lose one justice,

we lose Roe versus Wade.

DONNELL:
Look, you don't wanna get

into Roe versus Wade.

This case is much simpler
than that.

It deals with the authority

of a zoning board, period.

And that's where
your focus is.

Killing embryos
is simple to you?

Hey, Jimmy, do us a favor--
Don't come at me.

I don't like the hostility.
BERLUTI: Am I hostile?

Come on, guys.

I can't comment on the merits
of a case now?

All right, you guys.
YOUNG: No, you can comment

as a lawyer.

I'd even appreciate that.

But I don't need you

flapping your Catholic feathers.

Eugene.
WASHINGTON: Hey, you guys.

BERLUTI: Hey,
if I ever said to you,

"Stop flapping
your black wings,"

you'd jump out--
YOUNG: (indistinct)

see me do that.
BERLUTI: Hey,

let me tell you something,

the fact that I don't like
stem cell research,

it goes to humanity,
not religion.

But since you bring it up,

I don't apologize
for being Catholic.

And I'm sick
and tired of you

and everyone else

declaring war on Catholicism

just because--
YOUNG: I haven't declared war

on anything.
BERLUTI: Yes, you have.

Because of a few bad priests.

Yes, you have,
and I'm sick of it.

DONNELL: All right,
that's enough.

Both of you.

You focus on the case.

You stay away from him.

I didn't provoke that one.

(phone rings)

HATCHER: Donnell, Young,
Dole, and Frutt.

Oh, I'm sorry.

You've got the wrong number.

Everyone makes that mistake.

Uh, I believe the number
you're looking for is

557-run-a-rod-up-your-rectum.

Bye.

WASHINGTON: I don't mean
to criticize your work.

(sighs) They were looking
for the lawyer

defending the fetus
factory, Rebecca.

I see. Well, as long
as you don't inflame them.

These people are already
on fire, Rebecca.

These people?

Jimmy...

You support
what this laboratory

is doing, Rebecca?

Really?

WASHINGTON:
Look at our client base.

How many engage
in activities we support?

That doesn't fly.

Here, we're enabling
the activity.

EMERSON: I love music

and I'm very fond of Maxine.

She knows this.

She's a good person,

but I just can't take it.

Take what, Mr. Emerson?

The singing.

Every morning, 8:15.

And it's the same song,

One Moment in Time.

She bellows it.

My walls practically shake.

Is this really
such a problem?

You know, I said the same
thing to myself, at first.

It's just a few minutes.

What's the big deal?

And it's not like
she has a bad voice.

But (sighs) well,

when I bought this condo,

it was mine, you know?

And a person looks
to realize a few dreams

when he becomes
a property owner.

You know what I mean, Judge?

I'm sure I do,

but I never tire
of hearing it said aloud.

EMERSON: Well, my dream
was a cup of coffee

and the morning paper.

A quiet cup of coffee

in my very own dominion,

as I sit and read
the sports section.

I don't get this.

I get One Moment in Time

every single day.

Did you ever ask her to stop?

Yes.

She said she just had
to sing it,

and it had to be
in the morning,

and it had to be loud.

It was her way to get ready

to face her day.

And I just couldn't
take it anymore.

So we took steps to stop it.

DAVIES: So you don't deny

you rezoned this district

to purposely put
the Wayne Cell

Technology Institute
out of business?

We feel it poses a danger
to the community.

It represents a magnet
for protest,

possibly violent protest,

even religious terrorism.

DAVIES: Because their research

involves stem cell research?

Yes.

Abortion clinics
have been attacked

and similarly rezoned

because of safety concerns.

We did the same thing.

So this is all about safety?

Yes.

Protecting lives?

BLAIN: Yes.

Protecting human life?

I know where you're going,

and that wasn't it.

You're a member of the
Republican party, Mr. Blain?

Objection. This doesn't
concern politics.

Oh, it doesn't?
The issue before this Court

is whether the zoning board

acted capriciously.

FOX: I agree.

The objection is sustained.

You say, sir,

the Wayne Cell
Technology Institute

might be a magnet
for violent protest

because of the type
of research it does.

Correct.

Has it ever been targeted,

to your knowledge?

No. Are we supposed to wait
till it happens?

YOUNG: Ever received
any threats?

I don't know where you've lived

the last year, Mr. Young,

but things can blow up

absent a threat these days.

YOUNG: So we should just
start zoning out

any possible
target of violence,

is that your position, sir?

Our position
is we should zone out

this particular facility.

And it is located
in the same district

as Mass General Hospital,
is it not?

Yes.

Is it your feeling, sir,

that if Mass General
began a program

on stem cell research,

that you'd zone it out
of business?

No, that is not my feeling.

Well, why not?

Mass General
is a world-renowned hospital.

It could become
a high-profile magnet

for protest.

I believe that people
would weigh

all the public good
Mass General does

against the controversy
of the research

and find it to be
a redeeming facility.

YOUNG: Ah,
and you don't think

my client's institute

serves the public good?

No, we don't.

Thank you, Mr. Blain.

(sighs)

You want me to testify?

DOLE:
Well, here's the thing,

right now
it doesn't seem like

a hardship for you
not to be able

to sing this song.

Yes, it is.

Let me finish.

Which means, for us to win,

we need you
to impress the Judge

with why it's so
important to you.

It's how I start my day.

Yes, we have to make
a strong case

as to why you need it
to start your day.

I can't make
that showing, Maxine.

It's why I hired you.

DOLE: No lawyer
is going to be able

to convince a Judge
that a person

needs to kick off
her morning

with One Fine Day.

One Moment in Time.

I need you to speak
from your heart.

Can you do that?

Jesus gave me a big heart.

Yes, and I want you
to use it,

just like you do
your diaphragm.

Tell that Judge.

Make us all feel it.

Can you do that, Maxine?

Yes, I can.

I will.

Good.

(knocks on door)

You still here?

Something's on your mind.

(sighs) Yeah.

I don't know whether

I'm your best friend
anymore, Eugene,

but you're still
pretty much mine.

And I'm pretty much honored.

I'm Catholic, Eugene,

and your
anti-Catholic remarks--

YOUNG: Whoa, whoa, whoa.

I'm not
anti-Catholic, Bobby.

I am angry
at the Catholic Church.

I think the Church
should go the way of Enron,

but I assure you

I am not anti-Catholic.

Look, I'm a Christian man.

To tell you the truth,

I don't know the difference

between my Protestant
denomination

and Catholicism

other than our hymns

have a little more pep.

Are you a Christian?

Really?

Now, I feel a judgment,

and I don't like it.

DONNELL: Eugene, I'm not
a hugely religious guy,

but I do believe in God.

I believe man has a soul.

You think I don't?

Maybe in theory.

But what you live by,

you believe in the law.

And you know what,
it happens to most

criminal defense attorneys.

What happens?

DONNELL: We free killers

for a living, rapists,

people who sometimes
go on to rape

and kill others.

And the only way
we live with ourselves

is to treat the law

like a religion.

That's what you do.

And over time...

it's making you angry.

I think you got this void.

Really?

You're wrong.

And I have a case
I need to work on.

Okay. Look, I'm not
in here to say,

"Go get born again,"

but out of respect for me

and Jimmy,

lay off the
anti-Catholic rhetoric.

SHIPP: First,
my doctor tells me

I got low self-esteem

on account of being obese.

Then he says
I'm depressed.

He prescribed Prozac,
then Zoloft,

then some
bullet-sized fat pills

I can't even pronounce.

None of it worked.

I got up every day
and I felt the same.

Which was?

Like a doughnut.

This big wad of soft dough

with a giant hole
in the middle.

I could barely get out of bed.

And I'd drag my overweight,

overmedicated
fat self to work.

And I'd stink at my job,

which made me more depressed,

which made me eat more,

which made me more fat,

which made me stink more.

Until I found the song.

The song?

One Moment in Time.

Whitney Houston.

The woman has heart.

And hers would speak to mine

through that song.

And I so love to sing.

I tried it.

And you know what,

it worked.

The melody,

the lyrics, whatever.

I'd just puff myself up

with inspiration and hope,

and I'd charge off to work.

And you know what else?

I got good at what I do.

I no longer stink.

I'm no longer depressed.

I'm still fat.

Maxine, do you have
to sing it

in the morning?

Yes.

Before I start my day.

Uh, I'm not trying to upset
Mr. Emerson.

He knows I like him.

And I promise you
I need to do it.

I swear.

Thank you, Maxine.

Could you sing it
for us now?

What?

Uh, the word "booming"

has been used to describe it,

but Mr. Emerson tells me

one cannot fully appreciate

the quaking nature
of your performance

unless one actually
experiences it.

Your honor, I object.

Why?

We're all sitting here

wondering what the big deal is.

Why don't we just listen

for ourselves?

EMERSON: And try to drink
a cup of coffee.

I dare you.

Thank you, Mr. Emerson.

SHIPP: I need my boombox.

I don't sing a cappella.

Okay.

You can get your accompaniment

and come back.

But, Ms. Shipp,

you will be under oath
as you sing,

which means, to be truthful,

you must sing at the same volume

you do every morning.

Oh, don't worry, Your Honor.

I only know one way to sing it.

KITTLESON: Very well.

We'll adjourn until 11:00,

at which point we'll hear

your rendition of...

One Moment in Time.

EDMUNDS: We do not
consider ourselves

a security risk.

Why not?

EDMUNDS: We do not maintain
a high profile.

If you drove by
our building,

you may not even know
it's a biomedical

research facility.

And to date,
we have never faced

so much as a picket line.

So the idea
that we're a magnet for protest

is totally unfounded.

YOUNG: Okay.

Doctor, you heard Mr. Blain

talking about serving
the public good.

I was offended
by that testimony.

Why?

Our research is designed
to save lives.

There is no other motive.

We're not like
a pharmaceutical company

who develops a lifesaving drug,
which just so happens

to bring in a billion dollars
in revenue.

None of us
are getting rich here.

None of us dream or hope to.

Our goal, the only goal,

is to protect human life
against disease.

Along with treatments
for Alzheimer's,

Parkinson's, heart disease.

We're talking about treating
leading causes of death

in this country
and around the world.

But, doctor,
you know the concern.

Today stem cell,
tomorrow cloning.

We do not clone.

We never will.

And I take additional offense
at the implication

that we're a bunch
of mad scientists

running around
with petri dishes.

You certainly seem
indignant, doctor.

When religion raises
its ugly head

to squash medical progress,

I get indignant.

You consider religion
to have an ugly head?

EDMUNDS: I'm a man of faith,

and I do believe in religion.

But, yes, I'm coming
to the opinion that the head

is often the ugly part.

Your lawyer thinks
this is all politics.

You think it's religion.

Do you allow any room
for the possibility

that your facility might be
a target of violence, any?

I consider
such possibility negligible.

It certainly doesn't warrant
shutting our doors.

Because you're in the business
of saving human life.

Tell me, doctor,

when do you believe
human life begins?

According to the law?

DAVIES: No.
Uh, I'm not talking

about the legal definition.

I'm asking you as a person
of medical science,

when does human life begin?

When an organism matures
into a being depends...

DAVIES: No. I'm not talking

about the beginning
of a human being, doctor,

and you know what I'm asking you
is not a complex question,

so I'll ask it one more time.

From a medical-science
perspective,

when does human life begin?

In its organism form,
upon conception.

When an egg is fertilized
and an embryo forms, correct?

EDMUNDS: Yes.
And your facility

uses embryos
in its research,

correct, doctor?

Yes.
DAVIES: Human embryos.

Yes.

Doctor, where do
these embryos come from?

Where do these embryos
come from?

Many are discarded
from fertility clinics.

Many?

All?

No.

Where do the others
come from?

We harvest them.

DAVIES: You harvest them?

You take an egg,
fertilize it,

create an embryo,

and then destroy it
for your research,

right, doctor?

Yes.
DAVIES: You create human life

in order to destroy it.

We create the embryos
to treat diseases

which are destroying human life.

DAVIES: Yes.
That's your take on it.

Certainly you're aware, doctor,

when it comes
to stem cell research,

this is the public's
worst nightmare,

that the scientists
will one day

go from taking discarded embryos
from fertility clinics

to harvesting
embryos themselves.

That's the stated fear
on every talk show,

isn't it, doctor?

That day has already arrived,

not only at our facility...
DAVIES: Okay.

I really need you to answer
the questions I ask.

You're doing in your lab

the very thing
the public fears most.

I don't know
what the public fears most.

I would think
they'd fear sickness and death.

You go to great lengths
to keep your research quiet

so the public doesn't find out
you're harvesting embryos,

don't you, doctor?

We keep all
our research quiet.

So your testimony,
should the public find out

what you're doing,

you couldn't possibly
become a target

for violent protest?

Why don't we see?

Give the public
the benefit of the doubt

before you shut us down.

You've been keeping
this secret

because you believe
in giving the public

the benefit of the doubt.

(door opens)

(door closes)

Why didn't you tell us
you were harvesting embryos?

I wasn't really
at liberty to.

We all signed
confidentiality agreements.

YOUNG: Don't feed me that.

Look, what we're doing
is not illegal.

It's going on elsewhere,
like I said.

And in the near future,
it will be going on

at Mass General
and every major research...

YOUNG: That's not the point.

You were playing "hide the ball"

with the wrong Judge.

Somebody inside
must have whistled.

I don't know how it got out.

FRUTT: Well, like you said,
it's out now.

May I make a suggestion?

If this is why
they're rezoning you,

maybe a deal can be struck.

If you agree
to stop harvesting

and only use
discarded embryos,

maybe they'll drop
the ordinance.

We can't.

We don't get enough embryos
from the clinics.

We need to harvest.

Is it worth risking
being shut down?

If we can't harvest,
they might as well shut us down.

We need to win this, Eugene.

Yeah. Well, you just made
that a lot tougher.

(music playing)

♪ Each day I live ♪

♪ I want to be ♪

♪ A day to give ♪

♪ The best of me ♪

♪ I'm only one ♪

♪ But not alone... ♪
I never said she wasn't good.

She isn't exactly quaking.

SHIPP: ♪ My finest day ♪

We haven't got there yet.

♪ Is yet unknown ♪

♪ I want one moment in time ♪

♪ When I'm more than
I thought I could be ♪

♪ When all of my dreams ♪

♪ Are a heartbeat away ♪

♪ And the answers
are all up to me ♪

♪ Give me one moment ♪

♪ In time ♪

♪ When I'm racing
with destiny ♪

♪ Then in that one moment
of time ♪

♪ I will feel ♪

♪ I will feel eternity ♪

♪ You're a winner
for a lifetime ♪

♪ If you seize
that one moment in time ♪

♪ Make it shine ♪

♪ Give me one moment in time ♪

♪ When I'm racing
with destiny ♪

♪ Then in that one moment
of time ♪

♪ I will be ♪

♪ I will be ♪

♪ I will be free ♪

All we can do is argue it.

It's still a state
imposing its morality

on a private facility.

It's wrong,
and we should win.

Fox is conservative,
but she's a fair Judge.

Let's hope.

DONNELL:
How's it going?

YOUNG: Fine.
You need anything?

I heard what happened
in Court.

They're harvesting?

Yup.

What's next?

I'll get up
and argue the law,

like it's a religion,
is who I am.

DONNELL: All right, Eugene.

YOUNG: Look, I need
to prepare, so...

DONNELL: I don't give a damn.
I came to you

in the spirit of friendship.

YOUNG: Telling me
I had no center?

I never said that.

YOUNG: I got the point, Bobby.

I'm a man without a soul.

You know what, Eugene,
you want to make me the enemy,

fine.
YOUNG: No, no, no, no.

The enemy is thyself.

Isn't that
what the Bible says?

DONNELL:
I take it all back.

I was wrong.
I thought you were angry.

Clearly, you're not.

I thought the law
was your ideology,

but I can see now,
you're a spiritual guy.

Forgive me for trying
to step between you

and your profound sense
of contentment.

Did I miss something?

PEETE: It was
a splendid performance.

To hear it once,
fabulous.

But day after day
after day after day--

as Mr. Emerson stated,

part of owning a home,

perhaps the very essence of it,

is your quiet enjoyment of it.

To be able to sip
a cup of coffee

in peace.

Not all the time, of course.

Uh, disturbances
are part of life.

But Mr. Emerson shouldn't be
forced to endure

a daily dose of what we heard
in this Courtroom.

People do have a right
to peace and quiet.

Peace and quiet
are overrated.

I've just left my firm
to start my own practice,

ostensibly,
to find peace and quiet.

But I've discovered what
I've really been yearning for

is a sense of being connected
with people,

friends, loved ones.

I've gotten to know
Maxine Shipp a little.

I like her.

And...

I just think there's too much
peace and quiet going on.

People building fences, gates,
getting bigger yards,

going around
with Walkmans and iPods,

wearing headphones,
shutting out the world

in search of privacy,

seclusion, peace and quiet,

growing more isolated,

if not lonely.

We're all so disconnected,
you know?

I think--

I think we need to start
letting our neighbor's voices

come through our walls more.

The reason they kept
this research secret

is because they knew
the incendiary reaction

it would cause.

The most volatile issue
in this country is abortion.

It has been for 25 years.

And stem cell research
triggers the same emotions

compounded by the fears

and condemnation
of runaway medical science.

Where high-tech tissue plants
start to harvest cells,

organs, and body parts,

there is every reason
to fear protest,

violence.

And, accordingly,
there is nothing arbitrary

about the decision
to rezone this district

in the interest
of public safety.

That's the legal argument,
Your Honor.

But if I may,

Mr. Blain also raised
the issue of public good.

And the notion that that
is something the zoning board

should be concerned
with was basically scoffed at

by Mr. Young.

Well, I don't scoff at it.

Our public officials
are trustees.

The public welfare
must always be a vital

and relevant concern.

By passing this ordinance,

the zoning board is reaffirming
a sanctity to human life.

Human life begins
at the embryo stage.

Regardless
of one's position on abortion

or when an unborn
should have rights,

when it becomes a person,

there is no medical or political
dispute that human life,

in its organism stage,
begins upon conception.

And I submit it is one thing,

to balance the sanctity
of that life

against the interests
of the mother and pro-choice.

It is quite another
for an entity,

public or private,

to create human life

for the purpose
of destroying it.

To say that's acceptable

is to assert
that human life itself

has no intrinsic value.

That it's not sacred.

And once society accepts
that premise,

God help us.

Now, I'm sure Mr. Young
was hoping I'd say the word God,

because he, no doubt,

wants to lay this argument off
on religious dogma,

because in a Court of law,
the words God,

religion,
they're ugly words,

aren't they?

But the reality is,

if one truly wants
to find dogma in this society,

it's in the idea
that religion and God

have no place
in our secular lives.

We are much more dogmatic
in our commitment

to the separation
of Church and State

than we are towards
any faith.

Mr. Davies,
you're getting off-track.

I don't believe I am,
Your Honor.

We are a nation, a people,

a government
that profoundly believes

in the sanctity
of human life.

Defense should neither negate
nor invalidate that belief

simply because
it might be rooted in faith

or a commitment to God.

What they're doing
in these test tubes

and petri dishes

is an atrocity.

It's a violation
against humanity.

And a decision
to put a stop to it

is anything
but capricious.

If a commission chooses
to shut down a research lab

because people may protest,

that's arbitrary.

If you decide to close the doors
on medical progress

that could save lives
because of the possibility

of public outrage,

that's capricious.

There's been no violence here.

No threats.
No indication of the danger

the zoning board
says it's worried about.

And the action by that board
had nothing to do

with the risk
to public safety.

And it's in bad faith
for them to even offer that

as a pretext.

This is government
shutting the door on an idea.

We all know it.

Mr. Davies knows.
You know it, Your Honor.

Which is why he spent
the majority of his closing

not on the merits,
but on religion,

life's sanctity.

It's irrelevant.

FOX: The sanctity of life
is irrelevant to you, Counsel?

Your Honor, since a year ago,

every one of us
has become a lot more in touch

with the sanctity
of human life.

Nobody is more committed
to that sanctity

than my clients.

They do what they do

to fight off diseases
that are killing us.

And they don't need to be told
what is sacred

by a city zoning board.

There is nothing
remotely democratic

about this abatement proceeding.

And if the petitioner
is concerned about outrage,

the reason abortion

and the question of
"When does human life begin,"

the reason this issue

remains as combustible
as it does today,

we the people
never got to decide it.

It was done by fiat,

by nine people sitting
on a bench,

nine people nobody elected.

Nobody voted
for Justice Blackmun.

Nobody dropped the ballot
in the box

and checked off the
name of John Paul Stevens.

Now, you're getting off-track.

YOUNG: No, I am not.

Our most basic human value
was dictated to us by a Court.

And Congress can't change it.

A President can't change it.

The people can't change it.

We're bound
with no democratic recourse

to even address it
because the Supreme Court says,

"Let no electoral process
tear asunder."

That's why the public
is still angry 30 years later,

and that's why it remains
this country's civil war.

I believe in God, Your Honor.

As I do in the sanctity
of human life.

But one sanctity of democracy

is that we the people
enjoy religious

and political freedom,

and the liberty to decide
for ourselves

what is sacred.

Here we are today,

with a city zoning board
running to a Court

to impose its own idea

of intrinsic human value.

Let the protest begin.

MAN: Be seated.

Ms. Shipp, to be honest,
I wouldn't be thrilled

to hear that sousa-sized voice
every morning.

But, Mr. Emerson,
when I was buying my house,

I asked my real estate broker
about privacy,

and she said, "Oh, this is
a quiet neighborhood.

You won't have to worry
about your neighbors

getting all chummy
or throwing block parties.

People here like
to keep to themselves."

She said that
as a selling point,

something to drive
the price higher.

It's a sad day
when people go to Court

to stop their neighbors
from singing.

Your motion for a TRO is denied.

I'm entering judgment
for the defendant.

SHIPP: Oh, thank you.

We're adjourned.

(gavel bangs)

Oh, and thank you so much.

Congratulations.

I just had such a feeling
about you.

I loved it. It was so much fun
practicing again.

(phone ringing)

How'd it go?

FRUTT: The Judge said
she'd rule

by the end of the day.

We finally gave up
and came back.

Eugene was very good.

HATCHER: The clerk's office
just called.

Judge Fox denied the injunction.

She did?

We won?

FRUTT: That's incredible.

Eugene.
DONNELL: Ellenor,

let me tell him, okay?

Sure.

(door opens)

DONNELL: Clerk's office
just called.

You won.

We did?

Congratulations.

The girls said
you gave quite a closing.

I don't know.

Uh, I guess I spoke
from my center.

(door closes)

You misunderstood me,
Eugene.

I consider you a man
of such heart

and humanity,

that's why
I worry about you.

Anyway, congratulations.

YOUNG: Bobby,

you know the closing
the girls liked so much,

I got up and argued the law

like a religion.

Yeah.

And there you sit,

the winner.

(door opens)

(music playing)

WOMAN: Next on The Practice.

This case isn't against
the Church or the priest.

It's against the fellow victim.

GRAYSON: It's against someone

that could have prevented it
from happening to me.

You can't try. There's the jury
will laugh at you.

I think an under bias
is in play here.

Excuse me.

Eugene.
YOUNG: The man was raped.

What kind of bias
allows for a person

to see that is nothing?

BALL: We had heard about this
alternative dispute resolution,

where, you know,
like a lawyer,

kind of, decides.

It actually
isn't that simple.

Each of you would have
to be represented

by your own attorney.

And the nature
of the household noises.

Love-making.

(music playing)

WOMAN: You stinker.

(music playing)