Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight Page #3

play with a controversial star

recently stirred up,

as you remember,

the Broadway

audience and critics.

Here's the World Famous

Heavyweight Champion

Muhammad Ali Cassius Clay

in a scene from that play,

"Buck White," so let's have

a fine reception for him.

We came in chains,

we came in misery

Do you think you'd

have an easier time

if you weren't

a black Muslim?

No, sir. Not black Muslim, it's Muslim.

I think I would

have a harder time

if I wasn't a Muslim.

I might be dead now

from forcing integrating and

marrying out of my own race,

and drinking and smoking

and laying around bars,

catch a flying bullet.

If it wasn't for

the Muslim teaching,

I'd be in bad shape.

I'd be just another, what we

call "bum negro fighter. "

Uh, it's in

alphabetical order, sir,

descending,

Clay, a. k. a. Ali,

Cohen v. California,

Phillips v. Marietta-

Which one's that?

Mother,

young children,

the company refused

to hire her.

Oh, yes-yes-yes.

I know you don't

agree, but I've

included my brief

on Ali.

You're damn right

I don't agree.

You're out of

line, Henry.

Nobody in my office should

tell me how to vote.

I'd fire the lot

of you,

but you're all

so incompetent

you'd have trouble

finding another job.

Do you mean, sir,

you'd be prepared

to read, assess,

comment, advise,

draft majority

opinions, dissents,

draft concurrences,

bench and post-oral

arguments yourself?

Sure.

John, can I

help you with those?

No, thanks.

I'm fine.

On Clay,

a. k. a. Ali,

my boys button-holed

your boys.

None of us can

get a handle

on how you're

gonna vote.

Uh-huh. Well, that's

for me to know

and you to find out.

Aw, come on. I can't stand the suspense.

He was the first person to say,

"Don't rush into a decision. "

He's been very kind. He's

been very understanding.

In his own way...

Mr. Justice, it's time for conference.

You better

get going, sir.

Well, I suppose we

should start without him.

Yet again.

Phillips

v. Marietta.

Now, the woman they wouldn't

hire had preschool children.

How could she

hold down a job?

That's for her

to decide.

Well, as far as

I'm concerned,

an employer

can hire-

What's shakin',

Chiefy baby?

Oh. We started without you, Thurgood.

We're on Phillips

v. Marietta.

Hi. Hey.

As I was saying,

as far as

I'm concerned,

an employer can hire

whoever he wants

and for

whatever reasons.

That is the boss's

prerogative.

Now, I'd like to hear why

we should hear this case.

It's discrimination

on the basis of sex.

Your position amounts

to a declaration that

part of the Civil Rights

Act is unconstitutional.

With all respect,

Thurgood,

I don't want to argue

legal niceties.

You never do.

My first clerk

back in '56

at the Court of Appeals

was a woman.

She had young children,

and she had to leave

every evening at 6:00.

She had to go home.

She had to cook dinner.

Didn't work out well at all.

Well, I see you all have

different opinions.

All right.

Why don't we take a vote?

Clay, a. k. a. Ali,

v. the United States.

This is a waste of

the Court's time.

No one wants

to hear this case.

Excuse me, Chief, I

want to hear the case.

And I'll

tell you why.

Ali never backed down

from his beliefs.

He took

the consequences

of refusing induction.

Bill, you can't slow

us down on this.

We have a very heavy load

of cases to consider today.

He took the consequences.

He lost his title.

He gave up almost

3 years in his prime,

millions of dollars

so that he could stand up

for what his conscience

told him was right.

He's clearly a man

of great principle.

The Court is always

on dangerous ground

When it decides cases according

to the Justices' own views.

Which one of us is free

of those, John?

I think it's terribly important

that we exercise self-restraint.

I think it's

also important

that we express

what we believe.

Ahh. I'm out of here.

There's clearly

going to be a vote.

I'm recusing myself.

I was the

Solicitor General

at the time of

Ali's conviction.

I hate the Nation of

Islam, Elijah Muhammad,

and his bunch of

thugs and gangsters

organized from

the jail.

They preach

racial segregation.

I am

an integrationist.

I was born in 1908,

the year

Jack Johnson

knocked out

Tommy Byrnes.

Oh, yeah, a Negro

was the heavyweight

champion of the world.

What happened

the very next day?

They went out

looking for

the great

white hope...

to take back

the title.

There were race riots in

Springfield, Illinois,

the home of

Abraham Lincoln.

89 Negroes...

were lynched that year.

To qualify for

conscientious objector status,

you have to satisfy

3 basic requirements.

We know what they are.

I shall quote them.

One, you must be conscientiously

opposed to war in any form.

Two, your opposition

must be based on

religious training and belief.

Three, you must show

your objection is sincere.

Hugo!

Hmm? No need

to shout, Warren.

I'm listening.

Gentlemen, I'm wondering if,

in the future, we might not

end these sessions

a bit earlier.

Well, we can hardly get

through the case load as it is.

It doesn't

make much sense.

Hugo is 83 years old.

He's not in the best of health.

I may be slowing up,

but I am not dead yet.

Shh. Are they

still in there?

My God. These sessions take forever.

Yeah, Brennan won't

let them out

until they hear

the Ali case.

You'll see

- 5 votes to 3, they'll hear it.

Really? 5 votes to 3, they won't.

Anybody?

Come on.

It's 5 to 3, they won't. Here you go.

6 votes to two,

they won't.

You're an idiot, Scott.

Brennan, Black,

and Douglas

are gonna vote

to hear the case.

You're right. OK, 5 votes to 3 for Ali.

You can't flip

your bet, man.

Come on. You already gave me your money.

All right,

it's a squeaker.

But 4 votes

to hear the case,

Brennan, Black,

and Douglas,

and I got a hunch Stewart's

gonna vote with them.

I got a hunch

he won't.

To file for conscientious

objector status,

you have to be

a member of

an organized religion

or sect.

The Nation of Islam?

What is that?

Let's just take the

vote and move on, please.

Look, I know where

most of you stand.

I don't expect the

Court to find for Ali,

but at the very least,

I think we should

grant a hearing.

If we imprison

such a high-profile

war dissenter

without granting him

the full protection

of the legal process,

it could be seen

that the government

prosecuted the case

on a political basis.

Stuff and nonsense.

Say what, Chief?

Bill?

You know my position.

If the Court won't rule

on the legality of the war,

let's at least

rule on this case.

At least two.

Harry?

This is a very

complex case.

Does Ali satisfy

the 3 tenets

of conscientious

objector status?

I need more time

to look at this.

Oh, for God's sake.

Harry, you can't agonize

over this any longer.

You just

have to vote.

If you insist, but you're

bullying me into this.

On the face of it, I

don't think Ali has a case.

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