Law & Order

Law & Order1990

Filmed on location in New York, the drama showcases the sometimes-complex process of determining guilt or innocence, while lives hang in the balance. Often inspired by the latest headlines, the plots highlight legal, ethical or personal dilemmas to … more »



Jack McCoy:
This country began as an experiment in freedom. The foundation of that freedom is equality before the law. Everyone, whoever they are, whatever they may believe, must be equally accountable. Mr. Christie hopes you will ignore the evidence and nullify. A power, he says, derives from a higher law. I agree that such a higher law exists. And each of you, as members of the jury, bound yourselves to it when you swore, on your conscience, before God and as a citizen, that you would decide this case on the facts. You are asked to judge one thing, were the defendants, whatever their reasons, whatever their beliefs, part of a criminal conspiracy to commit armed robbery and murder? These guys did a great job of memorization; too bad they didn't lean from it. We all remember that phrase from the Declaration of Independence about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the unalienable rights of everyone. Notice that "life" comes first. You can forget everything else about this case, if you remember one thing: these defendants, these conspirators, targeted an ordinary citizen, someone just like yourselves, a guy with a job and in the private sector, with bills to pay and a family to take care of, and they took his life. They *took his life*! If it's okay for them to shoot him, it's okay for them to shoot anyone, including any one of you. Without the law, there can be no freedom, and without justice, there can be no law.

0.0 / 0 votes
634

Share your thoughts on this Law & Order's quote with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this quote in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Quote of the Day Today's Quote | Archive

    Would you like us to send you a FREE inspiring quote delivered to your inbox daily?

    Please enter your email address:

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this movie quote to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Law & Order Quotes." Quotes.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <https://www.quotes.net/mquote/781918>.

    Know another quote from Law & Order?

    Don't let people miss on a great quote from the "Law & Order" movie - add it here!

    Quiz

    Are you a quotes master?

    »
    In which movie does this quote appear: "To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human"?
    A The Matrix
    B The Green Mile
    C Batman Begins
    D Gladiator