SUNDAY, AUGUST 22, 2010
KLMNO Closing the Supreme Court doors: A bow to the culture of fear on the Hill
experts are alone enfranchised to determine security measures, with concern only for safety and indifference to the power of history, culture, aesthetics or architecture. But now Rep. Anna Eshoo
PHILIP KENNICOTT T
he closing of the front doors of the Supreme Court building came as so many
incremental attacks on public space do: A news release announced a closure date, chiseled in stone, the decision final. It was done with the bland and peremptory confidence of pure authority, power unlimited by any democratic right to redress. But a strange thing has happened. After weeks of the usual quiet grumbling and ineffectual head shaking, the passive acceptance of the unassailable security regime is being questioned. Late last month, a member of the House of Representatives offered a resolution — which is probably doomed, and won’t do much anyway — that nonetheless questions the wisdom of a major security grab on public space. It could be the beginning of a new conversation. On May 3, the court decreed that as of the next day, visitors would no longer be allowed to ascend the 44 marble steps, pass under the grand promise chiseled on the pediment —Equal Justice Under Law — and enter through the court’s massive, ornamental bronze doors. In one swift, final fiat, the architectural logic of Cass Gilbert’s magnificent 1935 neoclassical structure, which dramatizes the open access to justice, had been rescinded. Two justices dissented. Stephen
Breyer (with Ruth Bader Ginsberg also signing) described the grand procession, the careful and artful arrangement of stairs, statues, hall and courtroom that can be experienced only by passing through the doors as Gilbert intended: “Each of these elements does its part to encourage contemplation of the Court’s central purpose, the administration of justice to all who seek it.” There were other complaints, too, from academics and jurists, in the media and even from the public. But this kind of dissent doesn’t register in a world in which security
(D-Calif.) has joined the ranks of dissenters, but perhaps her dissent will carry more weight. Late last month, she introduced a resolution calling on the Supreme Court to change its mind and reopen the iconic doors. She has more than 30 co-sponsors. She is seeking more allies and says she will reintroduce the resolution in the next Congress if need be.
“I live behind the Supreme Court, and I walk past it just about daily, and when I saw the very small article announcing that the front doors of the court were going to be closed and the public could not enter, I was appalled,” she says. “I was really stunned.” She defends her resolution with the usual caveats: that we live in dangerous times, that she takes security seriously and that Congress can’t force the court to take action. But, she says, “I think we can address risk without giving up our ideals, our national ideals in terms of justice, openness and access.”
somewhere. A study by the Congressional Research Service suggests that Eshoo’s resolution doesn’t have obvious precedent, one reason to take it seriously. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new conversation about security, and the public’s role in making security decisions. Our most directly democratic branch of government is publicly challenging another branch of government about institutional courage. The resolution also asserts a right
that has been eroded to insignificance since the attacks of nine years ago: the right to have a say in matters of security. These are two very positive developments, two small challenges to the insularity of the security decision feedback loop. The way most security decisions about public buildings are made — a conversation between security experts and bureaucrats — leaves the decision in the hands of risk- averse people who have nothing to gain from maintaining accessibility. The natural trend is a security
spiral, the ultimate end of which is a surveillance culture, in which the public is herded and corralled and wanded and inspected. The grand,
The natural trend is a security
spiral, the ultimate end of which is a surveillance culture.
There is a natural suspicion of these kinds of resolutions, which are easy to draft, don’t have much force and are often written in support of the most quixotic goals. And cynics can point to the huge security embarrassment of the Capitol’s west terrace, which only a decade ago gave visitors free and open access to the best view of the Mall but is today closed to the public. Or to the monstrosity that is the new public front door to the Capitol, the budget-busting $621 million subterranean Capitol Visitor Center, which was an egregious boondoggle wrapped in the mantle of security fears and built despite huge destruction to a historic landscape that was in many ways as symbolically important to Congress as the front doors are to the Supreme Court. But protest must begin
aspirational architecture of democracy becomes merely a lesson in submission, terse smiles, barked orders, heads down, bags open, keep moving. Individuals may find courage within themselves, but when it comes to institutions, courage can be injected only from without. A congressional resolution about a security decision at another branch of government is, at the very least, an outside challenge to do better, to live up to professed ideals. But perhaps it can gin up courage, the way soldiers on a battlefield find a collective courage that is stronger than any singular fortitude. It is a reminder that, as said the president under whose watch the Supreme Court doors were first opened, the most frightening of our enemies is fear.
kennicottp@washpost.com Engagements | Weddings | Anniversaries ——Engagements——
KimberlyWatson& Andrew Rawlins —October 2010—
To place an announcement: email:
weddings@washpost.com phone: 202-334-5736 fax: 202-334-7188 ——Weddings——
——Anniversaries——
Margaret Richardson Marries Mark Linton —August 21, 2010—
O'Donnell 40th Anniversary —August 22, 1970—
Mark and Margaret Linton KimberlyWatson and Andrew Rawlins
Mr. & Mrs. Ernest Flood, Jr. of Bowie, Maryland announce the engagement of their daughter, Kimberly MarieWat- son to Charles Andrew Rawlins, Jr., son of Charles Andrew Rawlins, Sr. & Corinne Rawlins.
Kimberly is a graduate of University of the Arts, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, pursuing a second degree in nursing. Andrew is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a degree in Kinesiology and is returning to the U.S.Army as a 2nd Lieutenant.
An October wedding is planned.
Maura O'Connor Browning& Brooke North Patterson
—October 2010—
Ms. Patricia Reilly of Washington, D.C. announces the engagement of her daughter,Ms.Maura O'Connor Brown- ing of Fayetteville, North Carolina, to Mr. Brooke North Patterson of San Francisco, California, son of Ms. Judith Riggs of Morgantown, West Virginia and Mr. Richard North Patterson of San Francisco, California. Ms. Brown- ing is a graduate of Appalachian State University and George Mason Univer- sity and is a Physical Scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. Mr. Patterson is a graduate of Pitzer College and Yale University and is a Foreign Service Officer for the US Agency of Interna- tional Development.
The wedding is planned for October, 2010 at The Mansion at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland.
Tip #3:
Get more information online at
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Declare Your Love!
Announce your Engagement,Wedding or Anniversary in The Washington Post’s Sunday Arts & Style Section. (Birthdays, Graduations & other Special Events have moved to Thursdays.) You may provide text and photos. Color is available. Many packages include keepsake plaques of your announcement.
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All materials must be received by Monday at 1 p.m. Wilfred A. and Jean Hale Mr. and Mrs. Donald Algier
Congratulations to Jean nee Plaia and Donald Keith Algier who celebrated 50 years of marriage on August 13, 2010. Jean and Don have set a great example of a loving and caring rela- tionship to their family and friends. Proudly heralded byAnne,Paul, Maria, Frances, and Rose.
You are the world to us and we are grateful to have you as our parents!
From your seven children and spous- es, 12 grandchildren and spouse, and two great-grandsons!
With all our love! XOXO Delegate and Mrs. James E. Proctor, Jr.
"Jim and Susie" Celebrated their GoldenWedding Anniversary August 20, 2010.
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Margaret Lawrence Richardson and Mark Andrew Linton were married on Saturday, August 21, 2010 by The Rev. Stacy Williams Duncan, Senior Chaplain, National Cathedral School in Wash- ington, D.C. at Oakwood, the bride's parents' residence in Delaplane, Virginia. The bride is the daughter of Hon. Margaret Milner Richardson and John Lawrence Richardson ofWashington, D.C. and Delaplane, Virginia. The groom is the son of Sheila Glenn Linton and the late Norman D. Linton of Louisville, Kentucky.
Ms. Richardson is a Counselor to the Attorney General of the United States Eric H. Holder, Jr. She graduated from the University of Virginia, received a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a J.D, from U.C. Berkeley School of Law. The groom is the General Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development inWashington, D.C. He graduated from the University of Kentucky and received a Master in Public Policy from The Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The bride and groom met on the primary campaign of President Barack Obama. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, the bride served as Director of the Clean Slate Practice, East Bay Community Law Center in Oakland, California, (affiliated with UC Berkeley Law School)and the groom served as a Legislative Aide to then- Senator Barack Obama.
Dr. and Mrs. O'Donnell
Norah Bernadette O’Kane and Francis Lawrence O’Donnell were joined in Holy Matrimony on Saturday, August 22, 1970 at the Church of the American Martyrs in Queens, New York. Norah (from Queens) and Frank (from Staten Island) met in Brooklyn in 1969 and spent their first two years of marriage in Manhattan (Greenwich Village). Dur- ing Frank’s 30 year Army career, the family resided, in turn, in Laurel, Mary- land, Landstuhl, Germany, San Antonio, Texas, Seoul, South Korea, San Antonio, and Washington. Their four children were born in New York (Francis),Wash- ington (Norah), Landstuhl (Matthew), and Seoul (Mary Teresa). Norah and Frank live in Silver Spring, Maryland. They enjoy occasional babysitting for their five grandchildren: Aidan and Flynn (parents Olga and Francis), and Grace, Henry, and Riley (parents Norah and Geoff). Norah and Frank’s last 40 years have been busy, but they’ve been blessed to have spent those years together. They’re very proud of their wonderful children and grandchildren whom they love very much.
——Anniversaries—— ——Anniversaries——
Algier Golden Anniversary
—August 13, 1960—
Hale 60th Anniversary —August 19, 1950—
——Anniversaries——
Corsillo 45th Anniversary
—August 7, 1965—
E9
HARRIS & EWING NEW DAY:Cass Gilbert’s 1935 neoclassical structure no longer dramatizes the open access to justice.
Mr. and Mrs. Corsillo
Paul and Andrea Corsillo celebrated their 45th Anniversary on August 7, 2010 with a Mass at St" Louis Catholic Church, Alexandria, Virginia followed by a party at the Springfield Hilton with their son, daughter, granddaugh- ter, and many family and friends from around the country.
Proctor Golden Anniversary
—August 20, 1960—
C650 1x2
C330 2x1
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