Quotes on Law Enforcement

The issue is not whether there are horrible cases where the penalty seems "right". The real question is whether we will ever design a capital system that reaches only the "right" cases, without dragging in the wrong cases, cases of innocence or cases where death is not proportionate punishment. Slowly, even reluctantly, I have realized the answer to that question is no- we will never get it right.

We must create world-wide law and law enforcement as we outlaw world-wide war and weapon

Our emphasis here is based not only on the growing seriousness of drug-related crimes, but also on the belief that relieving our police and our courts from having to fight losing battles against drug use will enable their energies and facilities to be devoted more fully to combating other forms of crime.

Justice should be blind especially color-blind and able to fairly deal with the very real need for honest law enforcement.

I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement.

Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.

There is no contradiction between effective law enforcement and respect for civil and human rights.

You can truly grieve for every officer who's been lost in the line of duty in this country, and still be troubled by cases of police overreach.

Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced.

When you couple this militarization of law enforcement with an erosion of civil liberties and due process that allows the police to become judge and jury - national security letters, no-knock searches, broad general warrants, pre-conviction forfeiture - we begin to have a very serious problem on our hands.

The police can go to downtown Harlem and pick up a kid with a joint in the streets. But they can't go into the elegant apartments and get a stockbroker who's sniffing cocaine.

We cannot expect people to have respect for law and order until we teach respect to those we have entrusted to enforce those laws.