The Nine

every judge’s common obligations: suspicion of easy cases, skepticism about clear-edged categories, modesty in the face of precedent

以法官自传句点明转向，plot 89。

the driver, who usually worked in the clerk’s office, had to lift the tiny justice into the air and deposit her in the car.

身体细节写人，cast 91。

The chief ran his chambers like an assembly line, with his clerks expected to produce first drafts in ten days or less.

制度节拍可见，pace 88。

Rehnquist was a brutal editor, stripping his clerks’ work down to the essentials, taking out what he called, with some contempt, “the reasoning.”

一句刺穿风格，prose 90。

The stairs separated the Court from the everyday world—and especially from the earthly concerns of the politicians in the Capitol

建筑即权力地图，world 92。

few would forget the experience of mounting those forty-four steps to the double row of eight massive columns

象征入口立刻咬住，hook 93。

That, in any event, was the theory. The truth about the Court has always been more complicated.

开篇就拆神圣叙事，innov 87。

Soon, however, no one else will. The steps will be closed to the public as an entranceway to the Court.

与开场台阶对仗封闭，ending 90。