Some Great Legal Quotes for Closing Arguments
A few days ago, Stephen Suggs posted some great quotes to our SCTLA listserv. When I called to see if he would mind if I shared these with the rest of my readers. Stephen thought that would be great, but admitted that he had copied a number of the quotes from Gary Green’s website. Anyway, thanks to Steve and Gary here are the quotes for your pleasure:
If you do not have the basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff. - Cicero
Law is a pledge that the citizens of a state will do justice to one another. - Lycophron, 3rd Century BC Greek poet and scholar
Wherever Law ends, Tyranny begins. - John Locke, 17th Century English philosopher
It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important. - Dr. Martin Luther King, American Civil Rights Leader
"I shall not rest until every German sees that it is a shameful thing to be a lawyer." – Adolph Hitler
"The jury system has come to stand for all we mean by English justice. The scrutiny of 12 honest jurors provides defendants and plaintiffs alike a safeguard from arbitrary perversion of the law." -Winston Churchill
"I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution." - Thomas Jefferson
The wisdom of our sages and the blood of our heroes has been devoted to the attainment of trial by jury. It should be the creed of our political faith. - Thomas Jefferson First Inaugural Address 1801
"Learn to do right; seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." - The Song of Solomon - Isaiah 1:17
"Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and who write oppressive decrees, depriving the needy of judgment and robbing my peoples' poor of their rights, making widows their plunder, and orphans their prey." - Isaiah 10:1-2.
And the beat goes on... - The Whispers
I'm a criminal defense attorney, and this blog seems geared more towards PI practice, but I always loved the Abraham Lincoln quote: "There is not a man who has a good enough memory to be a succesful liar."
