The Star Chamber is a 1983 American crime thriller film starring Michael Douglas, Hal Holbrook, Yaphet Kotto, Sharon Gless, James B. Sikking, and Joe Regalbuto. The film was written by Roderick Taylor and Peter Hyams and directed by Hyams. Its title is taken from the name of the Star Chamber, the notorious 15th−17th-century English court. Plot Judge Steven Hardin (Michael Douglas) is an idealistic Los Angeles judge who becomes frustrated when the technicalities of the law prevent the prosecution of three criminals. The first is a man who was charged with murdering several elderly women for their welfare money. The second and third are two men who were accused of raping and killing a young boy named Daniel Lewin as part of a suspected child pornography ring. The suspected child murderers, Lawrence Monk and Arthur Cooms, attracted the attention of two police officers when they were driving slowly late at night. The police officers suspected that the van's occupants might be burglars. After checking the license plate for violations, the officers pulled the van over for expired paperwork. They also claimed to have smelled marijuana, and then saw a bloody shoe inside the van. However, the reason for stopping the van turned out to be spurious: the paperwork was actually submitted on time (it was merely processed late). Since the traffic stop was illegal, based on the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine, Hardin has no choice but to exclude any evidence discovered as a result of the traffic stop, including the bloody shoe. Hardin becomes even more distraught when Daniel's father, Dr. Harold Lewin, attempts to shoot Monk and Cooms in court, but misses and shoots one of the arresting officers instead; Dr. Lewin is arrested. While on a visit to Dr. Lewin, Hardin learns that another boy had been discovered by the police, raped and murdered in the same manner as Daniel. Outraged, Hardin visits his friend, Judge Caulfield (Hal Holbrook), who tells him of the existence of a modern-day Star Chamber, a group of judges that identifies criminals who cannot be brought to justice through the judicial system, and takes action against them using a hired assassin. As there is a vacancy present (one of the judges, James Culhane, had committed suicide earlier), Hardin participates in two of the Star Chamber proceedings, and the assassin is dispatched to kill two other unrelated murderers who were released on