Ideas don't desert you; ideas aren't treasonous to you, but people can be.
Alan DershowitzRead
I don't think the law exists to arrive at the truth. If it did, we wouldn't have exclusionary rules, we wouldn't have presumptions of innocence, we wouldn't have proof beyond reasonable doubt. There's an enormous difference between the role of truth in law and the role of truth in science. In law, truth is one among many goals.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the distinction between the pursuit of truth in law and in science, emphasizing that truth in law is only one of several objectives.
In this quote, Alan Dershowitz asserts that the legal system is not primarily designed to discover the truth, as this would lead to different legal principles such as the presumption of innocence and the requirement for proof beyond a reasonable doubt. He argues that while truth is vital, the law also encompasses many other goals, and its processes reflect such complexities, contrasting sharply with the more straightforward pursuit of truth in scientific endeavors.
Themes
LawTruthJusticeSciencePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a legal seminar discussing the nature of law and truth.
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All quotes →Ed Koch will never "rest in peace." That was not his way. He was always nervously squirming, while making others squirm as well. Comfort was not his goal. He understood that to be a proud and assertive Jew meant never being able to leave a sigh of relief and say "it's over, we are at peace, we can now put down our guard and relax."
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It's never acceptable to target civilians. It violates the Geneva Accords, it violates the international law of war and it violates all principles of morality.
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When I was growing up, my mother would always say, 'It will go on your permanent record.' There was no 'permanent record.' If there were a 'permanent record,' I'd never be able to be a lawyer. I was such a bum, in elementary school and high school... There is a permanent record today and it's called the Internet.
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A good lawyer knows how to shut up when he's won his case.
Alan DershowitzRead
Scientists search for truth. Philosophers search for morality. A criminal trial searches for only one result: proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Alan DershowitzRead
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