There is no way these two stories are not related.
Supreme Court turns down appeal from fired translator
Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:57 AM ET
The U.S. Supreme Court let stand on Monday the dismissal of a lawsuit by a former FBI linguist who said she had been fired in 2002 for speaking out about possible security breaches, misconduct and incompetent translation work.
Without any comment, the justices rejected an appeal by Sibel Edmonds, who worked as a contract linguist at the FBI's Washington field office from shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks until her dismissal the following March.
...U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton dismissed the case after then-Attorney General John Ashcroft invoked the rarely used "state secrets privilege."
...Justice Department attorneys said the appeals court's decision upholding the dismissal of the lawsuit was correct and that further review of the case was unwarranted. They said Ashcroft properly invoked the state secrets privilege after personally considering the matter.
You can find more information about Sibel Edmonds here.
Piece Falls From Supreme Court Facade
Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:52 AM ET
A basketball-sized piece of marble moulding fell from the facade over the entrance to the Supreme Court, landing on the steps near visitors waiting to enter the building.
No one was injured when the stone fell. The marble was part of the dentil moulding that serves as a frame for the frieze of statues atop the court's main entrance.
A group of visitors had just entered the building and had passed under the frieze when the stone fell at 9:30 a.m. EST.
Jonathan Fink, a government attorney waiting in line to attend arguments, said, "All of a sudden, these blocks started falling. It was like a thud, thud."
Ed Fisher, a government worker, said some of the marble pieces shattered, spraying the area with smaller chunks of stone. A group of students from Columbus, Ohio, pocketed some of the fragments as souvenirs, Fisher said.
As another Kossack pointed out, from the AP:
The large piece of marble fell from the building's facade above the words, "Equal Justice Under Law," just before 10 a.m.