Harry Turtledove - A Different Flesh

"Rise for the honorable judges," the bailiff intoned as the three-man panel filed in from their chambers. In the black robes and powdered wigs, the judges al seemed to Jeremiah to be cut from the same bolt of cloth.

To Douglas, who had argued cases in front of them for years, they were individuals. As the judges and the rest of the people in the courtroom sat, he whispered to Jeremiah, "Hardesty there on the left has an open mind; I'm glad to see him, especially with Scott as the other junior judge. As for Kemble in the middle, only he knows what he'll do on any given day. He has a habit of changing his mind from case to case.

That's not good in a judge, but it can't be helped."

A second look was plenty to warn Jeremiah to beware of Judge Scott. The man had a long, narrow, unsmiling face, a nose sharp and thin as a sword blade, and eyes like black ice. Even when young, he would not have changed his mind often, and he had not been young for many years.

Hardesty's features were nondescript but rather thoughtful. High Judge Kemble looked like a fox. He had a sly mouth, a sharp nose, and wide blue eyes too innocent to be altogether convincing. Jeremiah would have bet he was rich.

"What case, bailiff?" he asked in a mel ifluous tenor.

The bailiff shuffled papers, though both he and the judges knew perfectly well what case it was. He read, "An action brought by Charles Gil en, a citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia, to regain the services of his absconded black slave Jeremiah, the said Jeremiah stating himself to be a freeman and so not liable to provide said services."

Kemble nodded, Hardesty scribbled something, Scott looked bored.

The High Judge glanced toward Hayes. "The plaintiff may present his opening remarks."

The lawyer rose, bowed to Kemble and to each of the junior judges in turn. "May it please the honorable judges, we propose to prove that the nigger seated at the defendant's bench is and has been the slave of our client Charles Gillen, that he did willfully run away from the estate of Charles Gillen, and that he has received no manumission or other liberation to entitle him in law to so depart."

"What evidence will you produce to demonstrate this claim, sir?"

Kemble intoned.

"I have beside me here the owner of, "

"I protest the word, your excel encies," Douglas broke in. "For al that he borrows books from me, Mr. Hayes is surely too learned to assume what he wishes to prove."

"The claimed owner," Hayes amended before the judges could comment. "The claimed owner of this claimed slave" (Douglas winced at the sarcasm)

"and his son and his overseer, al of whom can identify the individual in question. I shal also produce a bill of sale demonstrating the chattel status of that individual." He sat down, looking as smug as a scrawny man can.

Judge Kemble glanced toward Douglas. "And how does the defendant plan to refute the evidence that counsel for the plaintiff shal put forward?"

The lawyer waited for Jeremiah's hesitant nod before he spoke.

The magnitude of what they were about to undertake still terrified the black, though they had hashed it out togethsr and agreed it was the best chance to squeeze justice from the court. As Douglas had said, "If you hit something, hit it hard."

For all his brave front, Douglas must have felt a trifle daunted tbo.

His voice was uncharacteristically nervous as he replied, "May it please the honorable judges, we do not seek to refute the plaintiff's evidence. Indeed, we stipulate it as part of the record."

All three judges had to work together to quiet the courtroom.

Cries of "Sellout!" from the few black spectatars rose above the buzz of the rest of the audience. The judges stared at Douglas as they wielded their gavels: Hardesty in surprise, Kemble in frank speculation, and Scott resentfully, as if the lawyer had awakened him for no good reason. Zachary Hayes also spent a few seconds gaping at his col eague. He recovered quickly, though, exclaiming, "If our evidence be admitted, then the case is proven for us.

May I ask your excellencies to order the nigger bound over for return to his rightful owner?"

"Bailiff, " Judge Scott began.

Kemble overrode him. "A moment, please. Surely, Mr. Douglas, you could have chosen an easier way to surrender.

Why this one?" - "Surrender, your excellency? Who spoke of surrender?"

Douglas's voice was at its blandest now, and Hayes's face suddenly clouded with suspicion. Douglas went on, "To stipulate that Jeremiah was held in involuntary servitude does our case no harm, as our contention is and shall be that such servitude is not only involuntary but contrary to law."

"On what ground, your excellencies?" Hayes waved the documents he had intended to introduce. "These are all executed according to proper form."

Douglas leaned down to whisper to Jeremiah, "Here we go, no turning back now." The lawyer took a deep breath, faced the judges, and said slowly,

"On the grounds that for any man to hold another man in slavery clearly contravenes the Articles of Federation and must therefore have no standing in law anywhere in the Federated Colonies.

The court was silent for a few seconds, while judges, opponents, and audience worked through the legal language to the implications behind it. Hayes furiously shouted, "Your excellencies, I protest!"

at the same time as a black man raised a whoop and a white growled, "You hush your mouth there or I'l hush it for yout"

Getting quiet back took longer this time, and the bailiff and court scribe had to eject a couple of particularly obstreperous people.

Finally, with some sort of order restored, Judge Scott brought down his gavel and said, "To me, the plaintiff's protest has merit, despite the defense's attempts at obfuscation. This small, open-and-shut case is not one from which to adduce large legal principles."

"Is it not?" Judge Hardesty spoke for the first time. "The principle would appear germane to the issue at hand."

"As Judge Scott has seen, your excellency," Hayes continued his protest to Kemble, "this is but a desperate effort on the part of the defense to shift the case away from the area where they are weakest: the truth. Its merits are clear as they stand; no need to go beyond them."

"On the contrary," Douglas said. "The claim I make is of paramount importance here. If one man may in law own another, when does application of that right end? What would the feelings of the plaintiff and his comrades be, were they at this side of the court, hearing my client lay claim to their services?"

"Any nigger wants me to slave for him'd have to kill me first," Harry Stowe snarled.

Judge Kemble's gavel crashed down, loud as a pistol shot. "Sir, that will be the last such outburst from you. You look to have seen the inside of a courthouse once or twice, enough to have learned the rules of behavior here." The chief judge glowered at Stowe until the overseer dropped his eyes and mumbled agreement. Kemble nodded. "Very well, then; we'll overlook it this time. As for the motion of the defense, however, we rule it is relevant to this case and will hear arguments based thereon." He used the gavel again.

As Hayes rose, he seemed to be fighting to hold his temper. His voice came out steady as he asked for a two-day extension "to study the new situation." Kemble granted it and adjourned the court.

Back in Douglas's office, Jeremiah was jubilant. "That Stowe hurt Mr.

Gillen more'n we did?" he grinned. "Without him opening his fool mouth that way, the judge wouldn't have got mad and gone along with your motion."

"Associating with me has made you cynical," Douglas said, drawing the cork from a bottle of whiskey and taking a long swig. "Ahhl Better.

Actual y, I think you're wrong there. Ruling against us, Kemble probably would have lost on appeal, and he's too clever to leave himself open for anything like that. He'l let us hang ourselves instead of doing the work for us."