law
school our professors used to call them
"ambulance-chasers" and "shysters." Unfortunately,
these men cling not only to the bottom rungs of the
profession, which would be bad enough, but on rare
occasions manage to climb to the very top-yes, even
to positions of great responsibility and power.
Now I needn't remind you of the scandal that
took place here in Washington during the tenure of
the last administration. You all remember that a
lawyer appointed by my predecessor to the Supreme
Court of the United States, the highest court in the
entire land, had to resign as a justice of that court
because of financial wrongdoing. Horrifying as that
incident was to every decent American, there seems
to me nothing to be
TRICKY ADDRESSES THE NATION 103
gained now by reawakening the sense of moral
outrage that swept the nation at that time.
As some of you will be quick to point out, there
were actually two men who found it necessary to
resign from the Supreme Court, after they had been
appointed justices of that court by my predecessor.
But whether there was one, two, three, four or five,
I simply do not believe it is in the interests of
national unity to harp upon the errors, grievous
though they were, of an administration that you
voters, in your wisdom, repudiated three years ago.
What is past is past; no one knows that better
than I do. If I recall to you now the names of these
two men who found it necessary to tender
unprecedented resignations to the highest court in
the land, it is only to answer, as forthrightly as I
know how, your question, "What kind of lawyer
would represent Curt Flood?"
The two men who resigned from the Supreme
Court were Mr. Abe Fortas and Mr. Arthur
Goldberg. My fellow Americans, the name of the
lawyer representing Charles Curtis Flood is Arthur
Goldberg. G-o-l-d-b-a-r-g.
Now, before I am accused of trying to shock or
alarm the Ameriean public, let me say that I myself
am not the least bit shocked or alarmed by this turn
of events. Having served on the highest court of the
land, Mr. Goldberg undoubtedly now knows the ins
and the outs of the
104 OUR GANG
law as well as the most devious lawyer in the
country. Moreover, none of us should be surprised
to discover a man who has fallen from the pinnacle
of his profession, willing to try just about anything
to get back into the public eye. Before the Flood
case is concluded, I would not be surprised to find
Mr. Abe Fortas joining forces with Mr. Arthur
Goldberg in defense of Charles Curtis Flood.
Now you may say to me, "But surely, Mr.
President, any man who wishes to destroy the game
of baseball, and enlists such attorneys as these in his
attempt to accomplish that end, is not even entitled
to a hearing in court. Not only is he making a
mockery of our entire judicial system, but in order
for him to go `up against the system' we, the
American taxpayers, have to pay for the upkeep of
the very system he is working to annihilate. If we
allow that, then we might as well allow selfconfessed
Communists to teach our children in the
classrooms. We might as well throw down our arms
right now in the battle for freedom, and hand over
our schools and our courtrooms without a fight to
the avowed enemies of democracy."
Well, let me assure you that I couldn't agree
more. In fact, we are right now studying ways of
restoring the dignity and majesty and, sanctity of
old to the courtrooms of the land. As , you know,
one experiment that we have tried with some
TRICKY ADDRESSES TIM NATION 105
success here in Washington is the "Justice in the
Streets Program." This is a program whereby
sentencing and punishment, for capital crimes as
well as felonies and misdemeanors, is delivered on
the spot at the very moment the crime is
committed, or even appears to have been committed.
Through J.I.T.S.P. and related methods of
expediting the judicial process, we hope to be able
not only to unclog the court
school our professors used to call them
"ambulance-chasers" and "shysters." Unfortunately,
these men cling not only to the bottom rungs of the
profession, which would be bad enough, but on rare
occasions manage to climb to the very top-yes, even
to positions of great responsibility and power.
Now I needn't remind you of the scandal that
took place here in Washington during the tenure of
the last administration. You all remember that a
lawyer appointed by my predecessor to the Supreme
Court of the United States, the highest court in the
entire land, had to resign as a justice of that court
because of financial wrongdoing. Horrifying as that
incident was to every decent American, there seems
to me nothing to be
TRICKY ADDRESSES THE NATION 103
gained now by reawakening the sense of moral
outrage that swept the nation at that time.
As some of you will be quick to point out, there
were actually two men who found it necessary to
resign from the Supreme Court, after they had been
appointed justices of that court by my predecessor.
But whether there was one, two, three, four or five,
I simply do not believe it is in the interests of
national unity to harp upon the errors, grievous
though they were, of an administration that you
voters, in your wisdom, repudiated three years ago.
What is past is past; no one knows that better
than I do. If I recall to you now the names of these
two men who found it necessary to tender
unprecedented resignations to the highest court in
the land, it is only to answer, as forthrightly as I
know how, your question, "What kind of lawyer
would represent Curt Flood?"
The two men who resigned from the Supreme
Court were Mr. Abe Fortas and Mr. Arthur
Goldberg. My fellow Americans, the name of the
lawyer representing Charles Curtis Flood is Arthur
Goldberg. G-o-l-d-b-a-r-g.
Now, before I am accused of trying to shock or
alarm the Ameriean public, let me say that I myself
am not the least bit shocked or alarmed by this turn
of events. Having served on the highest court of the
land, Mr. Goldberg undoubtedly now knows the ins
and the outs of the
104 OUR GANG
law as well as the most devious lawyer in the
country. Moreover, none of us should be surprised
to discover a man who has fallen from the pinnacle
of his profession, willing to try just about anything
to get back into the public eye. Before the Flood
case is concluded, I would not be surprised to find
Mr. Abe Fortas joining forces with Mr. Arthur
Goldberg in defense of Charles Curtis Flood.
Now you may say to me, "But surely, Mr.
President, any man who wishes to destroy the game
of baseball, and enlists such attorneys as these in his
attempt to accomplish that end, is not even entitled
to a hearing in court. Not only is he making a
mockery of our entire judicial system, but in order
for him to go `up against the system' we, the
American taxpayers, have to pay for the upkeep of
the very system he is working to annihilate. If we
allow that, then we might as well allow selfconfessed
Communists to teach our children in the
classrooms. We might as well throw down our arms
right now in the battle for freedom, and hand over
our schools and our courtrooms without a fight to
the avowed enemies of democracy."
Well, let me assure you that I couldn't agree
more. In fact, we are right now studying ways of
restoring the dignity and majesty and, sanctity of
old to the courtrooms of the land. As , you know,
one experiment that we have tried with some
TRICKY ADDRESSES TIM NATION 105
success here in Washington is the "Justice in the
Streets Program." This is a program whereby
sentencing and punishment, for capital crimes as
well as felonies and misdemeanors, is delivered on
the spot at the very moment the crime is
committed, or even appears to have been committed.
Through J.I.T.S.P. and related methods of
expediting the judicial process, we hope to be able
not only to unclog the court
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