On either side of the Supreme Court steps, on top of fifty-ton marble blocks, sits a sculpted figure: the Contemplation of Justice, on the left, and the Authority of Law, on the right.

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Because sometimes in this country and in our lives, we see blocks of marble and some people can see what's inside and some people can't.

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Several 1911 views of the marble quarries at Carrara might be showing us ice blocks that will melt, rather than the weight and presumably majestic purpose for which this stone is soon destined.

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Brooks points out the crystallized gypsum disguised as marble columns, the Styrofoam used to fill gaps in the palace's building blocks, and the most fundamental flaw: The foundations of the palace, set in an artificial lake, were designed to withstand a 200, 000 square-foot structure.

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