2008년 09월 09일
Practice. Season 8. Ep 01.
Jimmy Berluti:
I believe quite strongly in law and order.
We are a nation of laws, and it would be wrong for me or any lawyer to say it’s okay for one person to take the law into her own hands.
So I won’t argue that.
Even if children were dying in front of her, as was the case with my client. Even if she had to witness teenage drug
addiction, gunfire, sometimes the killing of innocent people, such as her own two-year-old daughter.
As I said, it would be wrong for me, as an officer of the court, to argue that she be allowed to take the law into her own hands.
So I won’t argue that.
I won’t argue self-defense or defense of others.
But you all heard what was in her mind.
It is within the power of this jury to vote your conscience, and I would implore you to dig into your conscience today.
Judge Harrod:
Mr. Berluti . . .
Jimmy Berluti:
Martin Luther King, Jr. said,
“When confronted with an unjust law, the moral and ethical thing to do is to break that law.” He said that.
It would be wrong for me to say it.
Judge Harrod:
Counsel . . .
Jimmy Berluti:
My client had no right to take the law into her own hands.
Of course not.
It is totally irrelevant that the police weren’t protecting her neighborhood.
Also irrelevant that the conviction rate for drug arrests in Boston is below ten percent.
Below ten percent!
Put that out of your minds.
Drug use is going up, while drug arrests are going down.
It’s out of control.
But it has no relevance here.
What are we as parents supposed to do?
That’s a rhetorical question, of course.
Not an issue for today.
Judge Harrod:
Mr. Berluti . . .
Jimmy Berluti:
As a matter of law, Aisha Crenshaw should have waited for the police to respond, even though they weren’t responding.
She should have let the children become drug addicts or drug dealers.
She should have let them continue to die.
She should have done nothing, and let all this happen
because, after all, we are a nation of laws.
take the law into one's own hands,
to administer justice as one sees fit without recourse to the usual law enforcement or legal processes: The townspeople took the law into their own hands before the sheriff took action.
im·plore
1. to beg urgently or piteously, as for aid or mercy; beseech; entreat: They implored him to go.
2. to beg urgently or piteously for (aid, mercy, pardon, etc.): implore forgiveness.
–verb (used without object) 3. to make urgent or piteous supplication.
conviction
1. an unshakable belief in something without need for proof or evidence
2. (criminal law) a final judgment of guilty in a criminal case and the punishment that is imposed; "the conviction came as no surprise" [ant: acquittal]
rhetoric
2. to beg urgently or piteously for (aid, mercy, pardon, etc.): implore forgiveness.
–verb (used without object) 3. to make urgent or piteous supplication.
conviction
1. an unshakable belief in something without need for proof or evidence
2. (criminal law) a final judgment of guilty in a criminal case and the punishment that is imposed; "the conviction came as no surprise" [ant: acquittal]
rhetoric
1. using language effectively to please or persuade
2. high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation; "the grandiosity of his prose"; "an excessive ornateness of language" [syn: grandiosity]
3. loud and confused and empty talk; "mere rhetoric" [syn: palaver]
4. study of the technique and rules for using language effectively (especially in public speaking)
D.A. Asher Silverman:
The law Mr. Berluti suggests you defy is the one against murder, and what he’s asking you to embrace is terrorism.
The defendant decided someone was not worthy of life, and so she acted to execute, and her lawyer now stands before you, mocking our allegiance to law and order.
There are many countries in the world who tolerate street justice—you don’t like somebody, you just shoot them.
There are places where this happens.
But this is America.
We don’t commit vigilantism.
We don’t tolerate murder when the killer sees fit, no matter what his or her conscience.
And we certainly don’t embrace terrorism.
My heart goes out to Ms. Crenshaw for the loss of her child.
Could the police do a better job? Perhaps.
If they had the resources, I’m sure they would. But what’s the answer?
For citizens to pull out guns and shoot the bad guys?
Is that a country we want to live in? Is it? I, too, believe a jury should reflect the conscience of America.
D.A. Asher Silverman:
That is not in my conscience.
And I pray to God, for all our children, it’s not in yours.
defy
1. resist or confront with resistance; "The politician defied public opinion"; "The new material withstands even the greatest wear and tear"; "The bridge held"
2. elude, especially in a baffling way; "This behavior defies explanation" [ant: apply]
3. challenge; "I dare you!"
allegiance
2. high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation; "the grandiosity of his prose"; "an excessive ornateness of language" [syn: grandiosity]
3. loud and confused and empty talk; "mere rhetoric" [syn: palaver]
4. study of the technique and rules for using language effectively (especially in public speaking)
D.A. Asher Silverman:
The law Mr. Berluti suggests you defy is the one against murder, and what he’s asking you to embrace is terrorism.
The defendant decided someone was not worthy of life, and so she acted to execute, and her lawyer now stands before you, mocking our allegiance to law and order.
There are many countries in the world who tolerate street justice—you don’t like somebody, you just shoot them.
There are places where this happens.
But this is America.
We don’t commit vigilantism.
We don’t tolerate murder when the killer sees fit, no matter what his or her conscience.
And we certainly don’t embrace terrorism.
My heart goes out to Ms. Crenshaw for the loss of her child.
Could the police do a better job? Perhaps.
If they had the resources, I’m sure they would. But what’s the answer?
For citizens to pull out guns and shoot the bad guys?
Is that a country we want to live in? Is it? I, too, believe a jury should reflect the conscience of America.
D.A. Asher Silverman:
That is not in my conscience.
And I pray to God, for all our children, it’s not in yours.
defy
1. resist or confront with resistance; "The politician defied public opinion"; "The new material withstands even the greatest wear and tear"; "The bridge held"
2. elude, especially in a baffling way; "This behavior defies explanation" [ant: apply]
3. challenge; "I dare you!"
allegiance
1. the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action; "his long commitment to public service"; "they felt no loyalty to a losing team" [syn: commitment]
2. the loyalty that citizens owe to their country (or subjects to their sovereign)
Vigilance
2. the loyalty that citizens owe to their country (or subjects to their sovereign)
Vigilance
1. The quality or state of being vigilant; forbearance of sleep; wakefulness.
2. Watchfulness in respect of danger; care; caution; circumspection. --Cowper.
2. Watchfulness in respect of danger; care; caution; circumspection. --Cowper.
And flaming ministers to watch and tend Their earthly charge; of these the vigilance I dread. --Milton.
3. Guard; watch. [Obs.] "In at this gate none pass the vigilance here placed." --Milton.
* Vigilance committee, a volunteer committee of citizens for the oversight and protection of any interest,
esp. one organized for the summary suppression and punishment of crime,
as when the processes of law appear inadequate.
see/think fit
to consider that some action is right, suitable etc
Example: You must do as you see fit (to do).
your heart goes out to someone
if your heart goes out to someone who is in trouble, you feel sympathy for them.
Our hearts go out to the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy.
Example: You must do as you see fit (to do).
your heart goes out to someone
if your heart goes out to someone who is in trouble, you feel sympathy for them.
Our hearts go out to the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy.
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