Robert Shapiro Quotes

The privilege against self-incrimination is one of the great landmarks in man’s struggle to make himself civilized.

I refuse to answer on the ground that this might be incriminating.

Listen, when somebody says, 'I take the fifth,' well, you know, they did something, OK? Why else would they take the fifth?

Well, if I used the privilege of self-incrimination at that time, I must have felt that perhaps there might be something that might incriminate me in answering.

The critical point is that the Constitution places the right of silence beyond the reach of government.

But for their right to judge of the law, and the justice of the law, juries would be no protection to an accused person, even as to matters of fact; for, if the government can dictate to a jury any law whatever, in a criminal case, it can certainly dictate to them the laws of evidence.

The state should not be allowed to make repeated attempts to convict an individual.

The Habeas Corpus Act is the most stringent curb that ever legislation imposed on tyranny.

More rogues than honest men find shelter under habeas corpus.

Petty juries, consisting usually of twelve men, attend courts to try matters of fact in civil causes, and to decide both the law and the fact in criminal prosecutions. The decision of a petty jury is called a verdict.

I'm a lawyer, I practiced for many years, and so I believe in the Fifth Amendment.

Experience has taught me that privacy truly is the touchstone of our criminal justice system.

Under the dual sovereignty principle, the Fifth Amendment's prohibition on double jeopardy - which prevents the government from trying someone twice for the same crime - doesn't apply if the second trial is by a different 'sovereign' - in this case, the state.

A right to jury trial is granted to criminal defendants in order to prevent oppression by the Government.

In our justice system, everyone who is charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. It should go without saying that people who are not charged with a crime also are presumed innocent.

As a prosecutor, I saw firsthand how VAWA has made a difference in the lives of women and girls by ensuring an aggressive response to domestic violence, boosting victims' services, and enhancing efforts to prevent and prosecute these horrible crimes.

I will be the defense attorney for all Italians.

People are innocent until they are proven guilty, and we will make sure that stays the case.

The law protects nothing in that very respect, in which it is, at the same time, in the eye of the law, a crime.

Government without a constitution, is a power without a right.

Is not this insanity plea becoming rather common? Is it not so common that the reader confidently expects to see it offered in every criminal case that comes before the courts? […] Really, what we want now, is not laws against crime, but a law against insanity.

Every state and the federal government have laws that protect people from acts of violence, and those laws should be enforced. What I want to see in America is that if you hurt a human being and you bring pain in their life, that's all we need to know. If you did it illegally, you should be prosecuted.

I've talked to a lot of pretty good lawyers around the world. I'm non-extraditable. That's the real reason the US government was pissed off, even when I was initially in Hong Kong.

Well, maybe there are one or two things about the double jeopardy concept that are overlooked. I could be charged with violating my probation. I could be charged for illegal possession of a firearm or violating his civil rights if I did kill him. But when you're making a movie, there's only so much that you can do. I know that some people, while thoroughly enjoying it, have said, It's a little bit implausible. But it's such great fun.

If you insist on asking me why I feel the way I do, I plan to take the Fifth Amendment.