“Yes, they are.” Cate felt her stomach and face on fire, which might be a biological first.
“I see. They were unanimous in their judgment, and I must say, as a personal matter, I’m very disappointed in you. I had such hopes for you.” Sherman frowned behind his glasses. “I knew you were young but I was certain you’d mature into the position. I liked your…style, I guess I should say. True, you’re different, but refreshingly so. I saw you as the future of this court, or used to.”
Cate felt like dying.
“We think, as a court, that it’s conduct unbecoming. It hurts me to tell you this.” Sherman slid off his glasses and examined his reading glasses as if he’d never seen them before. “I normally wouldn’t consider your personal life a matter for public discussion, but you hold public office, Cate. You’re a public official. The duties you perform serve the public, and the cause of civil and criminal justice.”
“I know, Chief, and I’m sorry. It will never ever happen again.”
“I’m sure of that. I know you, at least I felt as if I did.”
“You do,” Cate rushed to say.
“All of us are married, as you know. We have families. Except for the one messy divorce every year, which is our annual allotment-” at this, Sherman smiled slightly-“we lead exemplary lives, on and off the bench. We have to. The first canon of judicial ethics is that a judge must uphold the integrity of the bench. The comments require us to ‘personally observe high standards of conduct.’”
“I know, Your Honor.”
“Canon Two instructs us to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities, not merely those on the bench.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I was wrong.” Cate felt like it was the quietest, longest and most excruciating dressing-down she’d ever had. “I didn’t think.”
“The prospect of this TV series about judges, of course, is completely unacceptable.”
“I hate the idea, too.”
“They’re saying it’s fictional, but no one will believe that. I don’t want anyone making a TV show about my court.” Sherman stiffened. “It’s anathema to me. I assume you will file suit, with your resources. I had heard that you’ve been in touch with Matt Sorian. He’s exactly whom I’d hire, Cate. A lawyer with teeth.”
Meriden. “I did call Matt, but he advises me that I wouldn’t win, and I agree. I’ve been thinking that suing would do more harm than good. I’ve decided not to sue.”
“How so? Why?” Sherman’s lips parted in surprise. “You can’t be seen as acquiescing. This is a question of appearances. You must sue.”
“No, I won’t. I think it would bring more attention to the show.” Cate had decided last night, after talking to Gina. She wouldn’t compound the damage she’d already done. “It’s protesting too much, giving it publicity. Making it bigger than it is.”
“You couldn’t make it bigger than it is.” Sherman frowned deeply, and his tone took on a new urgency. “Attorneys@Law is a hugely popular show. Everyone watches it, even me. Ellen’s book group switched their night to Monday, because of it.”
“I’m going to weather it, Chief.”
Sherman set his reading glasses down quietly. “What are you saying? The relevant question is, can our court weather it? Are you saying you’ll stand by and do nothing to stop this? To stop them from hurting our court?”
“I have no choice, Chief.”
Sherman eyed her for a moment, over his folded reading glasses. “Then I’ll have no choice. You’ll be leaving me no choice. If you don’t sue, I’ll have to ask you to resign.”
Cate almost fell off the chair. “Resign? From being a judge?”
“Yes. Of course. I’ll have to ask for your resignation if you won’t sue. At least that.” Sherman shook his head, as if the explanation were simple. “I have to protect our court. Our judges, our staff. We all work too hard to get dragged through the mud on television. Or in the press. You have to sue, Cate. Then you’d at least be doing something to remedy this terrible situation you created. Then at least I could defend you.”
“Chief, this will die down, it has to, and-”
“Not if they make a TV show about it. Not the way the press massages TV, and vice versa.” Sherman scoffed. “It’s a twenty-four-hour news cycle, as they say, and I cannot have the entire Eastern District on TV, as news or entertainment. You tell me which is which, nowadays. Cate, won’t you sue? Please, rethink your position.” Sherman hunched over, in appeal. “Give it a day. Confer with Matt. You’re not thinking clearly. You’ll be an excellent judge someday, Cate. Don’t throw it away. Don’t make me ask you to step down.”
“You don’t have to-”
“Yes, I do, and I will. If you don’t sue.” Sherman edged away in his chair, watching her as if from a distance, and Cate flash-forwarded on what it would be like to be frozen out of his friendship, much less off the bench.
“But I just got on the court. I’m not giving it up. I earned this job.” Cate thought about what Gina had said. You wanted the promotion, but did you want the job? And then she knew, just as she was about to lose it. Maybe, finally, because she was about to lose it. “Chief, I want this job.”
“Then you should have taken better care of it.” Sherman faced-off with her over his desk. “We can do this easy or we can do this hard. Resign or sue.”
Cate reconsidered it, her resolve wavering. It would be so easy to sue. Just file the papers. Then she remembered. But what’s right for you might be wrong for Warren and me. “I can’t.”
“Then step down.”
“I won’t.”
“Then that’s that, I tried.” Sherman’s tone hardened, and he shrugged as if shedding her. “Effective immediately, your cases are reassigned. Blendheim, D’Alma, all of them. You’re off the bench. I’ll reassign Val to another judge. Nobody wants those law clerks. They’re on their own.”
“You can’t do that, Chief. You don’t have the power.”
“I most certainly do. I manage the dockets, and your docket just got cleared. You left me no choice. Federal judges hold their office only during good behavior.”
Cate rose. “The Constitution doesn’t speak to this, Chief, and you don’t have the power to execute, even if it did.”
But Sherman had stopped listening. He rose, too, then pulled a sheaf of papers from his desk and handed them across the desk. “This is a complaint of judicial misconduct against you. It will be filed by the end of today.”
“A misconduct complaint!” Cate snatched the papers but she was too emotional to read them. “The misconduct statute wasn’t meant for an overactive sex life. The statute is aimed at conduct on the bench, within the scope of office. Bias, conflict of interest. It doesn’t cover me! Who drafted this? Jonathan?”
“He feels very strongly that the court is being harmed, and now that we’ve spoken, I agree.”
“Chief, this is insane!”
“No, it’s insane to sacrifice an entire court for one individual, no matter who it is. I won’t have my court turned into a television spectacle.”
“They’ll still do the show!”
“If you aren’t on the court, it won’t be about a sitting judge. It won’t involve us any longer.” Sherman bore down, leaning across the desk. “Cate, last chance. Don’t make me file against you. The complaint goes to the chief judge of the Third Circuit, and he can hold hearings, take testimony. Is that want you want? You, on trial? A judge, as the defendant?”
Oh no.
“Your misconduct is clear. It’s all over the press, and it affected the performance of your official duties. You just admitted as much.”