Previously on "L.A. Law"...
I'm sorry
-
- I'm sorry about the baby.
I got your note, thank you.
How is Victor?
Victor and I are separated.
-You know Steve Graham?
-Yeah, the legal reporter, Channel .
Well, he's going on vacation,
and the station needs someone to cover for him for a couple weeks.
-But I'm a divorce attorney.
-So? You went to law school.
You know the difference between a crime and a tort.
Don't tell me that under that lawyerly suit,
you're really a romantic?
Well, if by that you mean I believe every woman has
one special light in her eye
that can only be seen by one special man,
then I'm guilty as charged.
Lock me up and throw away the key.
No. No, no, no, I'm here. Th
-
- This is terrific.
Listen, but what about, uh, Steven Graham?
Uh
-huh.
Well, I
-
-
No, I suppose I can make the time but
-
-
How much money are we talking about?
-[hair dryer whirring]
-Roxanne.
Roxanne!
Damn it! Roxanne!
I had another blue shirt, it's gone.
I've gotta tape a segment this morning,
and I cannot find my damn shirt.
You mean the one you spilled wasabi on last night?
Oh, great.
I don't have time to go back to my apartment,
I'll have to buy a new shirt before the taping.
-Are you done with this?
-No.
-Thanks.
-[hair dryer whirring]
Arnie! Why don't you ever remember
to bring your own hair dryer over?
Maybe for the same reason you use my razor
when you're shaving your legs at my place.
Oh, for Pete's sake, Arnie, it's not gonna k*ll you
if you use the razor after me.
That's disgusting.
Oh, yeah?
Like the year old tube of Crest
in your medicine cabinet?
When was the last time you shopped for toiletries,
the Bronze age?
At least I keep my fridge stocked
with more than carrot juice and mineral water.
You don't have a refrigerator.
You have a science project.
Maybe you'd like to do my shopping for me in the future.
Maybe I could buy his and hers straight razors
so you don't get infected with my girl cooties!
What do you want to do, buy matching hair dryers and move in together?
-I gotta finish my hair.
-I gotta find that shirt.
♪♪ [theme]
♪♪
Next up, Elkin vs. the Southern California Housing Authority.
-We represent the Authority on this?
-Uh, yeah.
It passed a ban on firearms in a public housing project.
Now a g*n owner is suing them to get his w*apon back.
Americans For Firearms has filed
a friend of the court brief on behalf of the plaintiff.
No big surprise.
I thought you represented a tenants organization?
TOMMY: I still do.
I helped the tenants a couple of years ago
when they were trying to get the g*n ban passed,
so when this suit came up, they convinced the Housing Authority
to hire me to defend it.
[door opens]
-Don't say a word.
-About what?
I'm sending Benny out to get me a new shirt.
Just leave it alone.
I think it looks very attractive, Arnie.
Gives you that lived
-in rumpled look.
-I don't do rumpled.
-DOUGLAS: Yes, well, moving on.
Grace, you have a meeting with the executive director
of the Los Angeles Women's Alliance?
Yeah, they want me to take over for Joan Cooper on a writ.
Mother convicted of child abuse two years ago.
The trial judge conditioned her probation
on accepting a contraceptive implant.
-Nice guy.
-Did she agree to it?
GRACE: She was young, she was scared.
All she heard was that five capsules under her skin
would keep her out of jail.
That's blatantly unconstitutional.
-ANN: I don't believe it.
-GRACE: Well, it took
a surgical procedure to put the implants in,
and she's petitioning for another procedure to take them out.
And I haven't decided whether to take it or not.
Finally, Leland McKenzie, arbitrator to the stars.
Well, not quite.
A husband and wife team, animal trainers.
They're divorcing and I'm arbitrating
the division of property in their company.
Ask him if it's true Mr. Ed couldn't really speak.
That's it, people. We're adjourned.
WOMAN: The facts are pretty grim.
Two years ago, Sharon Kester was charged with misdemeanor drug possession,
but when social services came to take temporary custody of her kids,
they saw evidence of child abuse as well.
Stemming from her drug use.
She'd hit her three
-year
-old with an extension cord.
Miss Kester was also pregnant.
Awaiting trial, she had a still birth.
cr*ck baby?
They added fetal endangerment to the charges,
put her two kids in foster homes,
ordered her into drug rehab and psychotherapy.
Then the judge gave her a choice,
five years in prison or five years probation,
provided she'd have the contraceptive implant.
On the theory that the fewer children she has,
the fewer children she can abuse.
I have to tell you, part of me agrees with that.
I feel really uncomfortable with making this a test case.
We all are, and you've done more than
your share of work for the Women's Alliance,
but this one's critical, Grace.
The state cannot be allowed to control a woman's body
and her reproductive choices.
We have to get this sentence overturned.
I'll tell you what.
Before I make up my mind,
I'd like to meet with Sharon Kester.
I'll set it up.
And I won't sugar coat this.
You're probably not gonna like her.
♪♪
[screaming]
[grunting]
♪♪
[grunting]
[screeching]
Ooh.
[screeching]
[grunting]
-[screeching]
-MAN: Oy!
The kid's a natural.
He got that in one take. Can you believe it?
Oh, I can see, he's a very talented, uh, simian.
Jerry's better than these trashy action
-adventure vehicles.
Oh, here it comes.
In divorce, it's always the monkey that suffers.
Uh
-huh.
-...and you know it.
-It was his best work yet.
[scoffs] He was playing strictly result.
His best work is "Widow's Walk."
There was depth, there was nuance in that performance.
Nuance my ass. He phoned it in, he learned it from you,
just like you phoned in our sex life.
Meryl Streep would have phoned in our sex life.
All right! All right, now settle down.
Settle down. Now, divorce is traumatic,
but that doesn't mean that you can't be civilized.
Your lawyers thought this might be better resolved
among the three of us.
Keep it on a human level. Hm?
So let's try.
I take it you two differ on a career direction for Jerry.
Well, action films are lucrative, but they're short term.
In the long run, I think he'd be better off
doing family films or maybe a series.
She wants him to do television.
My God, he'll never have a life!
And no other animal of yours
brings in as much income as Jerry.
-That's right.
-He grosses k a year.
And no combination of other assets
is acceptable as an exchange to either of you?
-No, no.
-Not in this lifetime.
Well, traditionally, under the law,
an animal is regarded as property,
but this may be a case of custody as well.
So I will have to take into account
not only who will be the best manager of
Jerry's economic potential,
but which of you makes the better... parent.
So to that end, I think I'd like to meet Jerry.
We'll adjourn 'til tomorrow morning, :. Hm?
Sorry. A crisis at the office.
There's a crisis here, if you hadn't noticed.
Nice to see you, too, Mrs. Wallace.
Just like I been tellin' you, he'd make us wait minutes
just like you made us wait a year
before you banned the g*ns.
You and the other tenants forced us to rush this process,
now we're right where I said we would be,
in the middle of a law suit.
Come on, we're on the same side here.
You would prefer to see a few more
-year
-olds sh*t on the playground.
-The Housing Authority would like that better?
-Hey, hey, hey.
That's not what I meant and you know it.
You wouldn't even fight, we had to talk you into it.
You and your people pressured us into this.
My people and your people used to be the same,
or have you forgotten what it's like to live there?
Okay! Now, let's pull back the a*tillery.
Now, Maggie, you and I go back a long ways,
but you're not being sued here, it's the Housing Authority.
I don't want to see any of this
when we put you on the stand, you got that?
And you. Cut her a little slack, okay?
You know what she's got invested in this.
Believe me, Mrs. Wallace,
we want to win this case as much as you do.
-Okay.
-Well, good.
Now, let's do it.
Mr. Elkin, in the five years that
you've lived in Avalon Courts,
what has the general racial make up of the building been?
Objection, relevance.
ATTORNEY: We're gonna show that this firearm ban
intentionally discriminates against minorities, your honor.
-Oh, please.
-No, I want to hear this.
Go on, Mr. Elkin.
The project's maybe eight percent black,
percent Hispanic, the rest white and Asian.
Living there, do you feel discriminated against?
Show me somebody that doesn't.
We got more crime and less police than white areas.
Ambulances don't even want to come into a black neighborhood.
Objection. Speculative and irrelevant.
Sustained. Answer is stricken.
Mr. Elkin, what kind of criminal activity
have you personally witnessed in the project?
ELKIN: Drug deals, gangs.
Four years ago, I got caught in a crossfire.
I was lucky. They only hit me in the shoulder.
That's when I went out and bought a g*n.
And did you have occasion to use that g*n?
About a year later.
Burglar broke into my place in the middle of the night.
I didn't want to sh**t,
but he came on me so fast I didn't have a choice.
-ATTORNEY: You k*lled him?
-ELKIN: Yes.
I'm not proud of it,
but I'd rather it was him than me.
Where is your g*n now, Mr. Elkin?
Confiscated by the Housing Authority.
They passed a new rule. No g*ns in the project.
If I didn't like it, I could leave.
Later, I find out that they didn't even get it okayed
by the department of Housing and Urban Development
like they were supposed to by law.
They just railroaded it through.
And why did you file this law suit
to get your g*n back, sir?
I grew up black, Miss Hagen.
Most of my life, I got told what to do and when to do it.
I live in a housing project because I can't afford to live anyplace else.
But no matter who I am or where I live, I got rights,
and one of them is the right to defend myself,
and at Avalon Court, that takes a g*n.
HAGEN: Thank you, Mr. Elkin, nothing further.
You haven't been burglarized since the g*n ban went into effect,
-have you, Mr. Elkin?
-No.
And before that when you still had your w*apon,
how many break
-ins were there?
-Just the one.
-But on at least one other occasion,
you thought somebody was breakin' in,
so you fired your g*n, puttin' a b*llet through the wall
into a neighbor's apartment.
The window was open, I thought somebody was in the room.
But it was only a stray cat, wasn't it?
-Yes.
-Your building is patrolled by
private security officers now, right?
They search the visitors in the lobby
to keep out knives and g*ns.
Security ain't foolproof.
I'd feel safer with my own g*n.
You'd feel safer.
Well, how safe do you think your neighbor felt
when you sh*t at a burglar who wasn't there?
Objection, no foundation.
-Sustained.
-Listen, if I hadn't had my g*n,
I'd be dead now. You understand?
I got a right to defend myself.
Listen, I am tired of hearing about
you and your rights, Tom Elkin.
What about our right to defend our children
against them b*ll*ts you keep sh**t' around your bedroom?
Order.
TOMMY: You say you can't afford to move from the project, Mr. Elkin.
-That's right.
-Then how is it you're able to afford
this very expensive civil suit you filed?
I couldn't.
But Mr. Jameson said he'd help me out with that.
Ahh, Mr. Jameson...
is a representative of Americans For Firearms.
That's right, I called 'em.
Wanted to know what my rights were.
And, Mr. Elkin, it was your idea to sue the Housing Authority?
I don't remember who mentioned it first.
-Are you a member of the organization?
-No.
Is anyone in your building a member to your knowledge?
Not that I know of.
So they are willing to pick up your legal bills
despite the fact that no one in your building
has any connection with them whatsoever.
I never realized the AFF was a philanthropic organization.
-Objection.
-I resent that characterization.
You're not a party to this suit, Mr. Jameson, sit down.
I understand you're doing well in drug rehab.
Yeah. I guess.
I've been clean two years,
that's longer than ever before.
And how about your psychotherapy,
is that going okay?
Yeah, sure.
Well, good.
I hear you have a new boyfriend, too.
Yeah, he's a good guy.
And he's not into dr*gs. That's a first for me.
Look, Ms. Van Owen,
I know what you must think about me,
but I'd never hurt my kids if I wasn't using.
And I want to get 'em back some day.
I know I gotta prove that I'm gonna do right by 'em.
Well, it's not just hitting your kids, Sharon,
it's
-
- it's also your drug use and your baby,
the one you lost.
That was an accident. Wasn't my fault.
It was your fault, Sharon.
The baby was stillborn because of the cr*ck cocaine
you used during your pregnancy.
That's what they said but it's not true.
Then what caused it, Sharon?
I think it was 'cause I was so upset
on account of being arrested.
It was, you know, stress.
-Sharon, I
-
-
-Look, I want this thing taken out of me,
Ms. Van Owen.
I never should have agreed to it.
I want to get married, have more kids.
I want to show that judge, I want to show everyone.
I want to prove that I am a good mother.
[chittering]
Ah, he must like you, Mr. McKenzie.
He doesn't take to everybody like this right off.
Isn't that right, ookie
-pookie?
Yes, well, I
-
- I like him, too.
JACK: Just try to loosen up a little bit,
treat him like a baby.
Do you have many grandchildren, Mr. McKenzie?
Uh, no. No, I, uh
-
-
My wife and I never had any children.
Mr. Markell, uh...
your wife claims that your training methods
are unnecessarily harsh.
JACK: Firm, maybe, but not harsh.
And never unnecessary. It's a question of approach.
She coddles the animal, she coos in his ear,
she feeds him treats all day.
Yeah, he yells at him.
He withholds food until he learns a trick.
Doesn't he, Jerry berry?
You yell at the animal, Mr. Markell?
JACK: I don't yell.
I do believe in discipline as a legitimate method of
behavioral conditioning.
If you want the animal to exhibit
aggressive behavior on camera,
you have to be aggressive with him,
but I don't abuse him and I love him as much as she does.
Well, uh, since I'm not qualified to, uh, evaluate
which approach is best,
I'm bringing in an independent expert
to determine which trainer has the best rapport with Jerry.
But wait a minute.
If he continues to have custody of Jerry,
he could coach the animal to choose him.
I wouldn't. But you would.
-You certainly would.
-In a minute.
-You would!
-All right, all right.
We'll keep Jerry in a third person's custody.
Neutralize his conditioning for a few days
before the testing. Will that work?
I'm not gonna leave him with a total stranger.
He's a very valuable property.
-Yeah.
-What about you?
-Excuse me?
-Well, you're a neutral party.
You're
-
- You're a responsible person,
-and Jerry seems to like you.
-I can live with that.
No, that's out of the question.
Well, there must be some other animal trainer who could take him.
Oh, sure. Loan him to the competition.
-Oh, what about a kennel?
-Good luck finding one
that handles exotic animals on such short notice.
[sighs] Well, all right.
What about his personal hygiene?
No worries. He's toilet trained.
All right. Two days, but no more.
We'll reconvene on Thursday.
Now, you be a good little boy for Uncle Leland, okay?
[kisses]
[door opens, closes]
So...
what is there about the idea of moving in together
that frightens you?
Aside from the fact that I've managed to torpedo
every serious relationship I've ever had?
Right, we'll take that as a given.
Well, obviously, we're not gonna live in my crummy little apartment.
I'd have to move into Roxanne's house,
the one she bought after her settlement with Dave Meyer.
It's like he's still a presence there somehow.
-Her ex husband?
-Sometimes, when we're making love,
I have the feeling that he's in bed with us.
And he's angry at the two of you being together.
No, he's telling me about how direct mail advertising
could broaden my client base.
Believe me, doc, this is a ghost no one could live with.
Except for that house in Malibu you rented,
and Corinne's house,
you've always lived in apartments.
Never bought a place of your own.
Is this leading somewhere,
or do you have a realty license on the side?
You live in a furnished apartment
full of half
-opened boxes.
You know what you got, Arnie? Fear of furniture.
-What?
-I'm being serious.
Fear of permanence.
Of being too deeply rooted.
Not being able to cut and run.
Regardless of whether you and Roxanne move in together,
have you ever thought about getting your own place?
Why should I?
What is the big deal about owning property, for God sakes.
It was a big deal for me when I bought my first place.
Scary, too.
I wasn't depending on somebody else to make a home for me,
I was making a home for myself.
I'm not scared.
A house is a house,
it is not like committing to a relationship.
It
-
- It's only committing to a
-
- to a
-
-
To a what, Arnie?
A life?
Your honor, I renew my objection to this witness.
Her testimony is completely irrelevant.
Miss Hagen claims the g*n ban is discriminatory, judge,
Mrs. Wallace is a tenant, she's black,
I want to see how she feels.
Well, we don't have a jury here, Miss Hagen.
-I'll allow it.
-TOMMY: Thank you, your honor.
Mrs. Wallace,
how long have you lived in Avalon Courts?
Twenty
-five years. I raised two daughters there.
And one of your daughters stayed in Avalon Courts
even after she had a child of her own,
-didn't she?
-Yeah.
Lynette moved into a one bedroom on the fifth floor.
I used to baby
-sit her little boy, Henry,
when Lynette had to work.
What happened to Lynette, Mrs. Wallace?
One day, she was makin' dinner in the kitchen,
and a b*llet came from outside the window,
and hit her in the throat.
She d*ed on her way to the hospital.
I'm sorry.
You have custody of her son, Henry, don't you?
-WALLACE: Yes.
-What was life like for a child in Avalon Courts
before the g*ns were taken away?
The first thing you learn is if you hear a g*nsh*t,
drop to the floor, stay away from the windows.
Some people sleep on the floor all time,
they don't use the beds at all.
After Lynette was k*lled, ma'am, what'd you do?
Helped form a tenants league,
put pressure on the Housing Authority,
and made them adopt a no g*n provision like they have in Chicago.
And is life any safer at the projects?
Well, it's not perfect, Mr. Mullaney,
but it's better than what it was.
So you don't agree with Mr. Elkin, do you?
WALLACE: My daughter could have owned a g*n,
but what good would it do when you can be sh*t and k*lled
by a stray b*llet while you're asleep?
Thank you, Mrs. Wallace. Nothing further.
I'm very sorry for your loss, ma'am.
Not just mine, Ms. Hagen.
Feel sorry for the half dozen children
k*lled in our project in the past two years.
Isn't it true, Mrs. Wallace,
that when you enter your building,
-you go past armed guards?
-That's right.
To keep the felons out or to keep minorities under control?
-Objection!
-Watch yourself, Miss Hagen.
HAGEN: I'll rephrase. Doesn't it bother you that
all these measures are directed primarily at
people of Hispanic and African heritage?
No. Do you know what bothers me, young woman?
That American Firearms suddenly actin' like
they care so much for blacks
when they never gave a damn about 'em before.
Move to strike, non
-responsive.
You don't know what it's like livin' down there, Mr. Jameson.
Where were ya when my daughter was k*lled?
When a ten
-month
-old baby was sh*t and k*lled in its crib.
-Your honor, please.
-Mrs. Wallace.
You want to tell my grandson how much you like black people.
You want to explain why the bastards that sh*t and k*lled his mama
shouldn't have to give up their g*ns?
Well, you do it. You do it!
[crowd murmuring]
All right?
I mean, Ann, it was
-
- it was bizarre.
She refuses to acknowledge responsibility
for her baby's death.
She's in therapy, right?
The doctors have to know about this,
they have to be working on it.
Yeah. But they're not the one who has to go into court
and argue that she's a fit mother,
when in plain truth, she's not.
Grace, whether Sharon is or is not a fit mother
is beside the point.
You're arguing against a blatantly unconstitutional sentence.
That's the only issue that matters.
So if I win and the implant is removed,
she goes back onto cr*ck,
and maybe has another stillbirth.
You don't know that's gonna happen.
She's in rehab, she's in therapy.
It might not play out that way.
But even if it does, like I said,
it's beside the point.
Beside the point.
So, what you're saying is that I
-
-
I am not being objective;
that maybe four months ago, I would have been.
Maybe.
Or maybe you're being more of a prosecutor right now
than a plaintiff's attorney.
Was Danny Escobedo a great guy?
Or Ernesto Miranda?
And accused r*pist and an alleged m*rder*r,
and they walked away free.
But without them, the cops would never have to read anybody their rights.
Same thing.
Thanks.
[clattering]
[glass breaking]
[Jerry screeching]
Jerry.
[screeching]
What in the name of
-
-
Whoa, ho, ho. What are you doing, Jerry?
What are you do
-
- Oh.
Oh, my goodness, you're shaking.
What's the matter? What's the trouble?
Here. Come on.
Let's come over here and sit down.
We'll talk it all over. Hm?
Come on, we'll go talk it all over.
Come on. There you go.
There. There. Come on.
You feel better?
That's better, isn't it?
Oh, yes, that's my wife. Mm
-hm. That's Ruth.
This was taken on our wedding day, .
We were married in San Diego.
Mm
-hm. The garden of the Del Coronado Hotel.
Yeah, that night, we walked down to the waterfront,
told each other...
that we'd spend the rest of our lives together.
Yeah.
Eh...
that's enough of that, hm?
Come on, let's go back to bed.
Come on, back to bed with you.
Come, now. Back to bed.
Up to the bed, there you go.
All right, Jerry, all right.
You all right? Oh... okay.
Sleep. Go to sleep.
Bye
-bye. Bye
-bye, Jerry.
♪♪
Mr. Carrera,
how long have you been with the Housing Authority?
About five years, but I also grew up
in one of the projects, Latham Downs.
What was life like in Avalon Courts
before the weapons were confiscated?
We estimated that one innocent bystander
is sh*t at every day,
one is hit by g*nf*re each week,
and one is k*lled every month.
TOMMY: And since the g*n ban went into effect,
has there been any marked difference?
Definitely. Homicides are down percent,
r*pe is down
-
- My God,
if we take the g*ns out of the hands of the g*ng members living in the projects,
it's gonna make life safer.
So what do you think of the claim by Mr. Jameson's organization
that this ban discriminates against minorities?
It's insulting.
Americans For Firearms is made up primarily of rural whites,
but they have the gall to come in here and argue their agenda
on the pretext that they know what's better for inner city minorities.
-They're cynically exploiting
-
-
-Objection.
Witness has no foundation to characterize the AFF membership or intentions.
Sustained. Strike the answer.
Was the g*n ban intended to discriminate against minorities, Mr. Carrera?
It was meant to protect them, to protect us.
We're the people being sh*t at and being k*lled.
Mr. Jameson knows that.
Thank you sir. Nothing further.
So homicides and r*pe have gone down in Avalon Courts.
-How about burglaries?
-No, but there's some
-
-
Robberies, muggings, vehicle theft?
-No.
-In fact, overall, the crime rate is
pretty much the same as before the g*n ban, isn't it?
That's a very difficult question to answer.
Isn't it true, Mr. Carrera, that last March
when a tenant was stabbed in a parking garage
it took almost minutes for the security police to discover it?
We don't have the money to post guards everywhere, Miss Hagen.
In , the Housing Authority asked for
how much funding from the federal government?
- million.
-And how much did you receive?
- million.
-Think you're likely to get
any extra guards in that parking garage any time soon?
-Objection!
-Withdrawn. Nothing further.
[knocking]
Douglas, could I ask your advice about something?
Of course.
I'm, um, thinking about
asking Arnie to move in with me.
Well...
that's very nice.
No, I want to know what you really think.
-Really?
-Really.
Better you should lie down in the middle of
the Ventura freeway at rush hour.
Quicker, and probably less painful.
-Gee, thanks.
-Roxanne,
you asked for my opinion.
I, uh
-
-
I
-
- I know how you feel about Arnie.
And it's all true.
My God, why am I getting involved with him,
much less considering living with him?
[sighs] You tell me.
In some ways, he's as selfish and inconsiderate as ever.
In others, I mean, he doesn't even look at another woman
when we go out together.
He's my friend, confidante, lover,
he is so warm and wonderful and
-
- and patient and loving,
I could rip out his liver!
Interesting dynamic.
This is when he starts to screw it up, you know,
when
-
- when everything's great,
when he
-
- when he couldn't seem nicer,
this is when he finds a way to
-
- to self
-destruct.
I mean, I watched him do it with Corinne,
I watched him do it with every woman he's ever dated.
I don't want to watch him do it with me.
Roxanne, are you
-
-
are you all right?
[inhales]
I didn't want to be in love with him again.
I know.
Maybe Arnie has changed.
Maybe he's not the same person he was years ago.
But you know, neither are you.
My God, I remember your first day here.
I was afraid a strong wind might blow you over.
It probably could have.
Well, not anymore.
Grace Van Owen appearing for the petitioner, Sharon Kester.
It is our position that the probationary condition
placed on Miss Kester
violates her right of privacy
as guaranteed by the th Amendment,
and that the coercive nature of the implant
-
-
How can it be coercive, Miss Van Owen,
when the petitioner agreed to the condition?
Miss Kester is young, and comparatively uneducated.
She did not fully understand the implications of her ascent.
-What about her attorney?
-Incompetence of counsel.
He was discharged one month later.
As Americans, we look at a country like China,
which places harsh restrictions
on its citizens' reproductive rights,
and we're rightly appalled.
But unless you reverse this ruling,
our government will have much the same power.
An individual's right to reproduce
is perhaps the most fundamental of human rights,
and placing limits on it
is not a power any government should have.
Thank you.
Please the court,
Sydney Lowenstein appearing for the state.
It's well established, your honors,
that the state has a compelling interest
in the safety of children.
Sharon Kester is a convicted drug addict
and child abuser.
To allow her to have more children
before she can demonstrate parental fitness
would be unconscionable,
even weighed against any alleged infringement of
her constitutional rights.
Miss Kester was not forced against her will
-
-
What about the question of informed consent?
The trial transcript clearly shows
that the petitioner understood the conditions.
Are you claiming, counselor,
that Miss Kester has somehow lost her privacy rights
just because she's been convicted of a crime?
LOWENSTEIN: Not at all, your honor.
But she is subject to probationary provisions
which, if imposed on law abiding citizens,
would be unconstitutional.
Limitations on travel or associations with known felons,
employment restrictions, all imposable because
the guilty person is subject to sentencing.
This implant was just a
-
- a different type of condition,
one that is not only fair but completely reversible
should Miss Kester be able to demonstrate
her fitness as a parent.
Thank you, counselor. We will take the matter under advisement.
Now, this is the last one. You understand?
Hm? Well, here's one for later.
Stars have to watch their weight.
Pretty soon, the only role you'll be fit for
-is son of Kong.
-[knocking]
Leland,
Douglas is waiting to go over the monthly reports with you.
Oh, all right, I'll be right there.
Thank you.
Now, I don't want to come back
and find that you have opened that bag.
You understand?
You can be a very good boy when you want to be.
Okay.
Now, I'm gonna trust you to stay out of trouble.
♪♪
[screeching]
Ooh, ooh, what's he doing?
[screeching]
-Stop it! Shh!
-LELAND: Jerry.
-Stop it. Get down.
-Jerry.
Jerry! Now, you stop that at once.
You bad chimp. You're bad!
-You all right, Benny?
-He
-
- He jumped on me.
Well, he gets a little carried away sometimes, don't you, boy?
No mangoes for dinner for you, young man.
Let's go.
All right, now, you be good.
You be very, very good.
Historically, g*n control has been
less about controlling g*ns than about controlling blacks.
In , the g*n Control Act was passed in the wake of
violent race riots,
and a shaken Congress pushed through legislation
banning so
-called Saturday Night Specials.
They knew very well who owned these g*ns,
and who their legislation would affect.
Ironically, years earlier after the Civil w*r,
Congress passed legislation ensuring that
recently freed blacks could own g*ns
to protect themselves from their former masters.
Who says time brings progress?
Your honor, the Housing Authority has
a well
-chosen Latino representative.
He's minority, but he works for white people.
White people who are scared to death of
empowering blacks and Hispanics.
So they found a clever way to disempower them.
Your honor, don't let them get away with it.
Wasn't too long ago that a child living in Avalon Courts
couldn't go outside in the summer to play
for fear of being sh*t.
Even if he could go outside, he was told,
if you see a stranger, to cross the street,
and stay outside handgun range.
And sometimes at night,
his parents had him sleep in the bathtub
because it was the only room in the house
that had no windows.
Now, Mr. Elkin says his right to own a g*n
is more important than a child's right to live in safety.
But studies have shown that a g*n in the home
is times more likely
to be used against someone living in that home.
And it is six times more likely
that a g*n in the home
will result in an accidental sh**ting
than in the sh**ting of an intruder.
So given this,
the Housing Authority had a rational basis
for implementing a g*n ban
that protects all its tenants' safety and health.
As for Ms. Hagen's accusation
that this rule is intentionally r*cist,
not only has she given
absolutely no proof to support this,
but the majority of tenants at Avalon Court
completely disagree with her.
What does seem to appear to be r*cist
is the g*n lobby insisting that they know
what is better for minorities
than the minorities themselves.
Don't listen to 'em, judge.
Listen to the people whose lives are really on the line.
What is your evaluation of Jerry, Dr. Dryden?
I'd say he was... conflicted.
-Conflicted.
-Yes, you see,
Mr. and Mrs. Markell have distinctly different training methods.
Mr. Markell takes an aggressive, confrontational approach,
while Mrs. Markell prefers a more lenient, reward oriented method.
Mm
-hm, well, if both work, what's wrong with that?
Well, imagine a human child in the same situation.
His father disciplines him to get him to do things,
clean his room, get good grades;
while his mother showers affection on him,
gives him rewards to do the same.
He grows up with conflicting impulses.
-That's ridiculous.
-Jerry's never had any difficulties
-with that.
-Conflicted.
Doctor, what would be the results of those conflicting impulses?
Erratic behavior.
Manic, almost violent one moment,
docile and loving the next.
A manic
-depressive chimp?
DRYDEN: Essentially, yes.
And I believe Mr. McKenzie and Mr. Stulwicz
had a small taste of this problem.
So Jerry would be better off with only one trainer?
-Yes.
-LELAND: And you'll be able to determine
which trainer has the better rapport with him?
Yes, I believe so.
Let's get on with it.
Patrice, would you bring Jerry in, please.
Now, I want the both of you
to verbally invite him to come to you.
DRYDEN: Okay, just let him go,
and we'll see which one he goes to first.
-Jerry. Come here, Jerry.
-[gibberish]
-Come
-
- Jerry, come here.
-Come to Mama, oodie baby.
-Come here
-
-
-Come here, damn it!
-...little baby.
-Jerry. Damn it, come here, Jerry!
-[chattering]
-Jerry!
[squealing]
Deeply conflicted.
LELAND: Yeah. Well, thank you, doctor.
You're welcome.
-Jer.
-Never seen him like this, he looks terrified.
We can't keep doing this to him, Jack.
Mr. McKenzie, I don't want to hurt him anymore.
We can't keep fighting over him like this.
Jack can have him.
Are you sure about that, Mrs. Markell?
Yes, I am.
-Mr. Markell?
-Hey, fine by me.
In that case, I assign ownership of Jerry
to Mrs. Markell.
-What?
-But, I just
-
-
As I made clear, I want Jerry
not just to be with the best trainer,
but with the person who cares the most about him.
By that action, I believe that Mrs. Markell,
uh, despite the fact that she goes overboard with her affections,
to be that person.
Hey, wait a minute, pal, you can't do this.
You're talkin' about my meal ticket here.
You agreed to arbitration, Mr. Markell, and it is binding.
I suggest if you want a new meal ticket,
you go to Schwab's, look for a chimp in a tight sweater.
All right, we're done here, we're adjourned.
[door opens]
-Mr. McKenzie
-
-
-[door slams]
I don't know what to say.
Well, good luck, Mrs. Markell.
And take care of yourself, young man.
You'd have made a good father.
Nah.
No, I never would have had the patience.
[gibberish]
-Come on, boo.
-So long, pal.
[Jerry chattering]
[door opens, closes]
-Ms. Van Owen.
-May I come in?
Yeah.
Have we heard anything?
Yes.
The justices just delivered their opinion.
-We won.
-Oh, man.
That's great.
That means I can get my kids back, right?
Not necessarily, no.
Why not?
The court said I can have more kids,
it means they think I'd be a good mother now.
The court ruled that
your rights were violated by the implant,
but they didn't say anything about you being a fit mother.
But I am a fit mother.
Sharon, until you face the fact that
your drug use cost the life of your baby, you're not.
Who in the hell do you think you are?
I don't care what you did for me,
-who in the hell are you to think
-
-
-I just wanted to help you.
Oh, get out! Get out of my house!
-Stop this.
-I don't want you here!
You never gave a damn about me.
All you and Miss Price ever cared about was the case.
-That is not true.
-Get out!
-Sharon.
-Get out!
Sharon, I know what you're thinking,
that if you stay in rehab, that if you see the shrink,
that pretty soon they're gonna give you your kids back,
but it's not true.
That's not how it works.
You have to show that you have changed.
You have to show that you understand what you did
-
-
Well, I told you it wasn't my fault!
It was your fault.
Your baby d*ed of a heart att*ck
-
-
Oh, you go to hell!
You've never even seen my kids. You don't know 'em!
I raised 'em just fine,
and I'm gonna raise another one just fine,
and I don't need nobody's permission.
Now, you got what you wanted.
Get the hell out of my house.
[door slams]
My client must be delayed in traffic, your honor,
-I apologize.
-Yes, well, I'm afraid
he's not coming, counselor.
I just talked with the police.
Mr. Elkin is dead.
-What?
-When did this happen?
JUDGE: About two hours ago.
Mr. Elkin was in his car, stopped at a light,
some g*ng members began harassing him.
He took out a revolver that he apparently kept
in the glove compartment of his car.
One of the g*ng members opened fire with his own g*n,
and Mr. Elkin d*ed at the scene.
I move to dismiss, your honor, this case has been mooted.
JUDGE: I wish I could, Mr. Mullaney,
but this is a matter of public policy,
I'm going to rule.
Now, unfortunately, the Housing Authority
never got this g*n ban approved by HUD,
therefore, this lease provision cannot stand.
I have no choice but to render judgment for
for the plaintiff, Mr. Elkin,
God rest his soul.
And as for your soul, Mr. Jameson,
I would start praying if I were you.
This court is adjourned.
[crowd murmuring]
This is what you wanted me to see?
Yeah, my realtor spotted it yesterday.
Three bedrooms, three baths,
it's an incredible bargain for North Montana.
It's gorgeous, Arnie,
but I didn't even know you were looking.
Me, neither.
I made an offer on it this afternoon.
What?
I think
-
- I think it would make
a really nice family home.
Even nicer if you would join me.
Is it warm in here?
You keep your place,
if things don't work out, you can always move back,
and if they do then
-
-
then
-
- then you can always sell it later.
Why now, Arnie? Why push our luck?
Because
-
-
Because I love you.
I've said it so many times before and I never meant it.
I wish there was some other way I could say it,
but there isn't.
I love you, Rox.
Oh, this is
-
-
This is crazy.
There is not a bookie in the country
that would give us better than...
to one odds on this.
Long sh*ts pay off, Rox, they pay off big.
Okay.
Really?
You really want to?
I should
-
- I should probably be committed, but...
maybe this calls for a celebration.
Sure, yeah, yeah, we could go over to Gladstone's
-
-
No.
I was thinking of something more like a...
christening.
I don't know, Rox.
I
-
- I haven't even opened up escrow yet.
Consider it opened.
♪♪
♪♪ [theme]
06x05 - Monkey On My Back Lot
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High-powered law firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak handles both criminal and civil cases, but the office politics and romance often distract them from the courtroom.
High-powered law firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak handles both criminal and civil cases, but the office politics and romance often distract them from the courtroom.