Right To Counsel Quotes

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 went to public school on Long Island, and it seemed every year we were being taught that you had a right to a fair trial and a right to confront your accuser.

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.

The American system of criminal prosecution is accusatorial, not inquisitional, and the 5th Amendment is its essential mainstay.

It must be a judge - never a politician - who decides whether someone is to be locked up.

Prior to any questioning, the person must be warned that he has a right to remain silent, that any statement he does make may be used as evidence against him and that he has a right to the presence of an attorney, either retained or appointed.

We need to make clear the federal government does not have authority to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens without due process or, for that matter, to use lethal force on U.S. citizens on U.S. soil if they don't pose imminent threats.

We have a system of jurisprudence. You are innocent until proven guilty. You have a right to counsel. And you have a right to hospitalization if you are ill. That is our system. And it's what makes this country special and what makes this country great.

Everybody has a right to be defended, and every lawyer has a duty to defend people accused. And my office is to defend him, to discuss the accusation point by point, as I think this is a normal step in a democracy.

[The defendant] has an absolute, unqualified right to compel the State to investigate its own case, find its own witnesses, prove its own facts, and convince the jury through its own resources. Throughout the process, the defendant has a fundamental right to remain silent, in effect challenging the State at every point to “Prove it!”

Anyone can be falsely accused of a crime. Everyone accused of a crime deserves a fair trial.

In the real world, some defense lawyers never have an innocent client in their whole career.

I got the chance to argue my first case in Supreme Court, a criminal case arising in Alabama that involved the right of a defendant to counsel at a critical stage in a capital case before a trial.

More rogues than honest men find shelter under habeas corpus.

You have got to make sure there's due process for somebody that's accused of a crime. You've got make sure they're safe.

From the very beginning, our state and national constitutions and laws have laid great emphasis on procedural and substantive safeguards designed to assure fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law. This noble ideal cannot be realized if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him.

The central pillar of our justice system is due process. You have got to be charged with a crime. Then you can challenge those charges in a court of law with a trial.

I was determined to become a criminal lawyer and help look after the poor.

A fair trial is one in which the rules of evidence are honored, the accused has competent counsel, and the judge enforces the proper courtroom procedures - a trial in which every assumption can be challenged.

There's nothing wrong with crooks having lawyers. Everyone is entitled to a lawyer.

The core civil liberty that underpins our American criminal justice system is the presumption of innocence. Every person enjoys this presumption long before the commencement of any investigation or official proceeding.

The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process.

Our Constitution requires that the accused be presumed innocent before trial, thus granting all citizens the right to a bail hearing, where the accused has the opportunity to be represented by counsel, present evidence, and cross-examine witnesses.

I learned that in seventy percent of all the civil cases in the judiciary of the United State at least one of the parties is not represented by an attorney. I didn’t know that.