The results came back instantly. Her Senate confirmation had been covered by every major legal publication in the country. Her photograph was on the Southern District's official federal government website. There were press releases; there were news articles; there was a photograph of her being sworn in 11 days earlier, her hand resting on a Bible that had belonged to her great-grandmother, her mother standing beside her crying.
Durbin looked up from his phone. He looked at Simone Carter standing on her porch with her iced tea and her clipboard. He looked at his phone again, and then he walked very quickly to the patrol car and knocked on the window.
Lawson stepped out of the car 30 seconds later. His posture was different. The squared, assertive set of his shoulders from when he first walked up that driveway was gone—still trying to hold himself together, but something had broken behind it.
He approached the porch again. "Ms. Carter," he said—and notice, for the first time since arriving, he said "Ms. Carter," not ma'am, not miss—"Ms. Carter, are you... are you a federal judge?"
Simone Carter took one more slow sip of her iced tea, set the glass down, looked at him.
"I am," she said. "I was confirmed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia 11 days ago. My commission is signed by the President of the United States. My chambers are at the William Augustus Bootle Federal Building, approximately six miles from where you're standing. I begin presiding over my first case docket this coming Monday morning."
The silence that followed lasted five full seconds on the body camera recording.
And then Simone said something that would be quoted in news articles, shared in legal communities, discussed in law school classrooms, and replayed on social media 62 million times over the following two weeks.
She said, "Officer Lawson, I want you to think very carefully about what has occurred here this afternoon. I own this property. I was engaged in no illegal activity whatsoever. I was standing on my own porch. I was questioned, asked to leave my own property, and subjected to a verification process that neither of the two men visibly present on camera was ever asked to undergo. During this encounter, I cited three specific constitutional precedents, all of which were accurate, none of which you challenged on legal grounds. And this entire interaction has been captured on four recording devices, including your own body camera, which I assume is still running."
Lawson said, "Yes, ma'am."
Simone said, "Good. Then I think we both have everything we need. Have a good afternoon, Officer."