4.2.12 WC: 191694 raping Blacks, but many Blacks had been executed for raping, or even assaulting, white women. I recount this story in greater detail in the chapter on the death penalty. For now, suffice it to say that he knew that the key Justice would be William Brennan, since if liberal Brennan would not go along with him he had no chance of beginning any meaningful dialogue. Since I had done all the research, he assigned me the delicate task of trying to get Justice Brennan to join our opinion. It was a daunting task for a 24-year-old law clerk to persuade a Justice of anything, but I went in to see Justice Brennan and he listened to me politely without committing himself. Eventually he did join Justice Goldberg’s dissenting opinion and the dialogue was begun. Within less than a decade, it resulted in the judicial abolition of capital punishment, but soon thereafter in its resurrection of the “game” of two steps forward, one step backward is still ongoing. My conversation with Justice Brennan marked the beginning of what developed into a lifelong friendship and mutual admiration society. One of my great treasures is a handwritten letter from the justice in 1982 that includes the following: “There are winds swirling these days that too few resist---it’s a comfort to know that outside there are steadfast champions who are putting up a gilliant fight. You are first among them and that’s a matter of special pride for those of us who have followed your career with increasing satisfaction.” [check quote] As I write these words, the death penalty is now deemed constitutionally permissible, at least for certain crimes, though I am convinced that Justice Goldberg’s “pet project” marked the beginning of what will be its ultimate demise in the United States. Justice Goldberg’s “pet project” and the way he sought try to implement it, tells us much about the man and his relationship to his law clerks, but it doesn’t tell us everything. He regarded his “one year clerks” as “