His Own Worst Defendant

During a routine day on the bench, a judge famous for strict adherence to the Constitution receives a police call saying his wife is in custody for breaking into a condemned apartment building. She entered to bring out her elderly father, who refused to leave after an eviction the judge himself upheld, but she slipped away from the officers and climbed back inside. The judge arrives to find her behind a chained door, dragging her father's oxygen cylinder toward the stairs while bricks fall into the street. He starts toward the entrance, but an officer blocks him and warns that forcing his way through will mean arrest. Behind the officer, a ceiling beam cracks, leaving him seconds to stay behind the police barrier or break the rule he would enforce against anyone else.