Anna Quindlen Quotes

I have faith in the jury system.

When I was a prosecutor in Kansas City, my job was to fight for justice and safety for all citizens in my community. Equal access to justice under the law is an American value embedded in the fabric of our legal and political system - the idea that anybody, powerful or not, can have their day in court.

A grand jury hears only one side - that of the prosecutor.

Sometimes the wheels of justice grind slowly.

Law enforcement does not ask an advantage in its struggle with the lawless. It asks only that the scales of justice be balanced. The cause of justice is not served when hardened criminals are allowed to go free through legal technicalities.

The wheels of justice sometimes turn slowly, but happily they turn.

Due process does not require that every conceivable step be taken, at whatever cost, to eliminate the possibility of convicting an innocent person. To conclude otherwise would all but paralyze our system for enforcement of the criminal law.

I believe in the jury system.

I believe myself to have been a reasonable prosecutor, and when the facts and evidence show a criminal violation has been committed, the individuals involved should not dictate whether the case is prosecuted.

The law itself is on trial quite as much as the cause which is to be decided.

Law is a process. If there is equality of process for everybody, then that's our definition of justice. Whether or not what is done is right or wrong, you follow the process. And so, the end result is just by definition within that alternative universe that is American law. Most people still operate within a moral universe where principles of good and bad and what is right and wrong in itself, and not just as a result of the process.

Uncertain justice by a verdict is much better than certain injustice.

In many courts, plea bargaining serves the convenience of the judge and the lawyers, not the ends of justice, because the courts simply lack the time to give everyone a fair trial.

The 'music' is not an open court and a fair trial.

I think the detective story is by far the best upholder of the democratic doctrine in literature. I mean, there couldn't have been detective stories until there were democracies, because the very foundation of the detective story is the thesis that if you're guilty you'll get it in the neck and if you're innocent you can't possibly be harmed. No matter who you are.

Justice has taken its course and the authority and legitimacy of the legal process must be respected.

Every man may think his own cause just till it be heard and judged.

I mean, we do believe in due process in America. I thought we did.

For justice to have any meaning, it must also mean that no innocent person should ever be executed.

This is really a pretty good system you have here. What do you call it? "Due process". We're very proud of it.

Care should be taken that the punishment does not exceed the guilt; and also that some men do not suffer for offenses for which others are not even indicted.

I will prove my innocence, ... I guarantee the Filipino people that I will be vindicated because the truth is on my side.

An innocent man, if accused, can be acquitted; a guilty man, unless accused, cannot be condemned. It is, however, more advantageous to absolve an innocent than not to prosecute a guilty man.

Justice is not to be taken by storm. She is to be wooed by slow advances. Substitute statute for decision, and you shift the center of authority, but add no quota of inspired wisdom.

If people with the very best intentions carry on prosecutions that are oppressive, the end may not always perhaps sanctify the means.