On 29 September 2005, from one o'clock in the afternoon, a large number of journalists crowded the press office of the Federal Senate, because today is a very important day, after the President constitutionally nominated a new Chief Justice due to the death of the previous Chief Justice of the United States, and the nomination of the Federal Senate needs to be considered today.

"As we all know, the Chief Justice is the head of the judiciary, and he is not only the authority on federal law, but more importantly he needs to coordinate the relationship between the law and the federal government and parliament. Generally speaking, most of the people who can hold the post of chief justice are veteran judges or lawyers with rich judicial experience, but the nominee for the chief justice to be considered today is Judge Kendini, who is only 49 years old!"

"This is very incredible, because to ensure that the chief justice is only accountable to the law, the chief justice holds office for life, which means that if he is healthy for a long time and has committed no criminal acts, he will most likely become the longest-serving chief justice since the founding of the United States!

At the entrance of the Senate, a reporter said to the camera very excitedly, not only because of the reporter's personal emotions, but also because of the importance of the chief justice to the whole country, and even because of his lifetime office, to some extent, even more important than the president.

After a few more minutes, someone finally walked out of the press office, and the press spokesman walked to the podium, along with a short-haired white man, who was the nominated justice, Kendini.

"In the just-concluded deliberations, the Senate approved the nomination of Justice Kendini for appointment by a vote of sixty-three in favour, twenty-eight against and nine abstentions. ”

Although this answer was expected by everyone, it is usually at the voting stage, which means that the overall situation has been decided, and this is just a final formality, especially when Kendini and the press spokesman come out together, which is a positive answer. But when the press spokesman actually said the answer, everyone applauded and cheered.

The results were announced, followed by the introduction of the Chief Justice's oath and other processes, and when everything was over, it was time for the media to interview.

"Hello Justice Kendini, how do you plan to clean up the judicial system when you take office? Many people say that you were nominated thanks to the current president, what do you think? We know that you were a justice of the Massachusetts Court of Appeals in the past, and you were also the most authoritative justice before, so how do you think of yourself? Have you encountered any problems in your judicial work over the years? You are the youngest chief justice......

In response to one strange question after another from reporters, Kendini replied: "First of all, I am honored to be the youngest Chief Justice, and then I have personally received a lot of inspiration in the Massachusetts courts, and what really got me to where I am today is because of a very special case." ”

Kendini said and looked up at the blue sky and continued: "Although twenty-five years have passed since today, maybe that case has long been sealed in the archives of the Massachusetts court, maybe the entire federation has forgotten that case, but I will not forget, the super case that caused a sensation in the whole country and even changed a lot." ”

......

Rewind to December 3 in '90, the first Monday of December, and the heavy snow that had fallen overnight finally cleared up in the morning, and the golden sunlight refracted from the clouds to give off a colorful glow.

An old priest was pulled out of the church by his son, and when he looked up at the heavenly wonder, he immediately fell to his knees and said reverently: "This must be the brilliance of my Lord, which means that something terrible will happen!"

As the old priest knelt on his knees excitedly, a black Buick sedan sped past his church.

The road in front of the church is the road leading to the South Brighton District Court, and the black Buick sedan is Zhou Ming's car, and at this moment Zhou Ming, Zhang Lin and lawyer Allen are sitting in the car.

Zhou Ming saw that Allen's hand holding the document bag was a little stiff, and he couldn't help but ask him: "Lawyer Allen, you are my barrister, it's just an ordinary lawsuit, I don't think you need to be so nervous, right?"

Allen apologized to Zhou Ming first, and then said: "Mr. Zhou Ming, this is not a simple lawsuit, not only my most important lawsuit, but also may become a classic case in the whole Massachusetts or the whole federation in the future, it is very important, so I do not allow myself to make any mistakes, and I have also persuaded the firm to temporarily devote all resources to this case until the case is over." ”

Zhou Ming is still quite satisfied with Allen's seriousness, and Zhou Ming really needs this case now.

The journey to the South Brighton District Court was not far, and a few minutes later, Zhou Ming and the others arrived at their destination.

"All the courts have a similar internal set-up, and I think given the nature of our case, we should choose the commercial court. Alan said to Zhou Ming.

There was no problem with this, so Zhou Ming and Alan then went to the commercial court together, but when they arrived at the commercial court, they saw that there was already a long queue at the door of the reception room.

"I didn't expect so many people to line up. ”

Zhou Ming sighed in a low voice, he really didn't expect it, you must know that although they didn't come to the court at the first time, but it was also morning, how could there be so many people?

Allen shrugged his shoulders and said: "This is also no way, South Brighton is a bustling business district, there are countless commercial disputes that occur every day, plus today is Monday, the efficiency of the court itself is criticized, and there is a backlog of problems on the weekend to be solved in the court today, so there are so many people who submit litigation applications." ”

"I understand the reasoning, but if I want to submit my application quickly, is it okay?" Zhou Ming asked.

Alan nodded and said, "No problem, Judge Oprang is my friend, through him we can directly submit an application to the court without having to endure this long queue." ”

This answer is unexpected but plausible, because according to the law, most cases must be handled through the basic court where the company is located, and neither the Court of Appeal nor the High Court will accept the case unless the case is too large. So once a rich man or an official wants to file a lawsuit, do they have to wait in a long line here like ordinary people?

It seems that even in the United States, where the country is governed by law, there is no way to go through the back door.

So Allen took Zhou Ming into the courthouse and found Judge Oprang, a judge with a Mediterranean hairstyle, who happily agreed to help after listening to Allen's request.

Then Oprang took Zhou Ming Allen to apply for a lawsuit, but they did not go back to the original reception room in front, but walked into the courthouse and went to another room, which is a very comfortable reception room, which not only has heating, but also sofa seats, and melodious music.

Oprang brought a document to Allen, who told him that it was an expedited filing for the lawsuit.

For this kind of thing, Alan quickly wrote it to Oprang, who took the file and called a female staff member to give her the document and said, "This is this gentleman's application for an expedited lawsuit, you can deal with it immediately." ”

This was originally a very normal thing, and the female staff member naturally took the document and nodded and said yes, but before she could leave to handle it, she heard another voice sound: "What case needs to be so urgent?

With the voice, Zhou Ming and Allen turned their heads to look, and saw a mixed-race black man walking over with a frown, a face full of dissatisfaction.

Oprang didn't care about the black man's dissatisfaction, he just said: "That's the case, this gentleman's case is very important, so the court decided to take his case first, do you have any other opinions?"

"Important?" said the negro in a deliberately raised tone, "is there any case that comes here that doesn't matter? Or do you discriminate against the color of my skin?"

"Sir, I have not discriminated against you in any way, and if you say so, I will accuse you of slander!" said Oprang.

"Hey, I think you've all heard it, this gentleman just said he was going to sue me, I don't know if this can be regarded as a threat to me, if so, as a court official, you are a casual threat to people, can we immediately complain to you?" said the black man.

Zhou Ming knew that many blacks were discriminated against here, and some people were born with a pathological sensitivity to racial issues, especially mixed-race blacks, Zhou Ming didn't want to cause anything here, so he said to him: "Okay, this gentleman, even if my case is important, I won't rush this minute, if you feel that your case is more than any other case, let you come first." ”

Zhou Ming said and made a gesture of invitation to the other party, but the mixed-race black man did not appreciate it, he still raised his head and said, "What do you mean by letting me come first? Is this a charity for me? What about so many people here?"

Zhou Ming frowned and asked, "So what do you want?"

"Quite simply, I'm just telling you that all the cases here are important, and it's not just you, do you know him?" he said, pointing to a person next to him, "He's going to sue that national chain of Hanno burgers." ”

After speaking, he pointed to the other side and said, "He is going to sue Ruder Rubber Tire Factory." ”

"And me," the black man continued, "I'm going to sue Louis Investments, and you know Louis Investments? That's one of the best investment companies in us, how about it? You are too scared to speak when you hear the names of these companies!"

Zhou Ming was indeed a little speechless, but he was not frightened, but a little crying and laughing, because at first Zhou Ming really thought that he had a big case!

"Sure enough, it's a very good company at Brighton, but I think it's better for me to go first. Zhou Ming suggested very politely.

The black man stared at Zhou Ming and said, "Didn't you understand what I just said?" I said that our case is the most important, what are you a Chinese, what can you do?"

As he spoke, the black man snatched Zhou Ming's documents from the female staff member and read: "Look at you, you are only going to sue forty-five investment companies, including the Caribbean Investment Company, the Louis Investment Company, the St. Martin Investment Company, and the New Dawn Investment Company. ”

The black man was still very energetic when he first read it, but when he pronounced a name, his voice became three points weaker, and in the end his voice was as small as a mosquito, but even such a small voice still attracted the attention of everyone in the room.

In this way, in everyone's eyes, the black man looked up at Zhou Ming incredulously and said, "This ...... How could you sue these companies, they're the most powerful investment firms in Brighton!"

"Doesn't the law support it?" Zhou Ming deliberately asked, Alan shook his head at the right time and said that it was impossible, and Zhou Ming immediately continued, "So I'm going to sue today." ”

The black man couldn't help but give Zhou Ming a thumbs up: "You are amazing!"