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Alan Dershowitz

Alan Dershowitz Quotes

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Famous Alan Dershowitz Quotes

“If we move away from the American tradition of lawyers defending those with whom they vehemently disagree -- as we temporarily did during the McCarthy period -- we weaken our commitment to the rule of law... So beware of an approach which limits advocacy to that which is approved by the standards of political correctness.”

IfsMovingLawPoliticalPoliticsJusticeResponsibilityPeriodsLimitsApproachStandardsRespectConscienceCommitmentTraditionLawyerToleranceHypocrisyDisagreeRule Of LawPolitical CorrectnessApprovedCorrectnessAdvocacyAmerican Tradition
Book:Letters to a Young Lawer (Easyread Large Edition)
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“In representing criminal defendants - especially guilty ones - it is often necessary to take the offensive against the government: to put the government on trial for its misconduct. In law, as in sports, the best defense is often a good offense. The courtroom oath - to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth - is applicable only to witnesses... because the American justice system is built on a foundation of not telling the whole entire truth.”

WholeGovernmentLawSportsJusticeTruth IsBuiltFoundationDefenseCriminalsTrialsGuiltyWitnessTelling The TruthOffensiveOffenseOathIn-lawsRepresentingJustice SystemCourtroomWhole TruthNothing But The TruthMisconductAmerican Justice
Author:Alan Dershowitz
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“I have no doubt that if an actual ticking bomb situation were to arise, our law enforcement authorities would torture. The real debate is whether such torture should take place outside of our legal system or within it. The answer to this seems clear: If we are to have torture, it should be authorized by the law.”

IfsShouldRealSeemsLawAnswersSituationClearDoubtAuthorityDebateAriseTortureNo DoubtBombsLaw EnforcementEnforcementLegal System
Author:Alan Dershowitz
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“To ask about the 'source' of rights or morals assumes an erreous conclusion. To ask about the source of morals is to assume that such a source exists. As if it existed outside of human constructed systems. The 'source' is the human ability to learn from experience and to entrench rights in our laws and in our consciousness. Our rights come from our long history of wrongs.”

IfsHumansLongLawAsksAbilityConsciousnessMoralRightsSourceAssumingConclusionLearning Experience
Author:Alan Dershowitz
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“Censorship laws are blunt instruments, not sharp scalpels. Once enacted, they are easily misapplied to merely unpopular or only marginally dangerous speech.”

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Book:Finding, Framing, and Hanging Jefferson: A Lost Letter, a Remarkable Discovery, and Freedom of Speech in an Age of Terrorism
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“I don't think the law exists to arrive at the truth. If it did, we wouldn't have exclusionary rules, we wouldn't have presumptions of innocence, we wouldn't have proof beyond reasonable doubt. There's an enormous difference between the role of truth in law and the role of truth in science. In law, truth is one among many goals.”

IfsThinkingLawGoalDifferencesRolesDoubtTruth IsProofEnormousInnocenceReasonableIn-lawsPresumptionReasonable DoubtPresumption Of InnocenceBeyond A Reasonable Doubt
Author:Alan Dershowitz
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“Law is an imperfect profession in which success can rarely be achieved without some sacrifice of principle. Thus all practicing lawyers -- and most others in the profession -- will necessarily be imperfect, especially in the eyes of young idealists. There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we see it.”

KnowsInspirationalMotivationalEyeLawYoungJusticePerfectPrinciplesSacrificeEthicsAbsolutesInjusticeProfessionLawyerImperfectIdealist
Author:Alan Dershowitz
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