Latest Alan Dershowitz Quotes from Interviews

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• I have made a career out of arguing that we shouldn't be criminalizing political differences. I've made a career out of arguing that the grand jury is an abusive institution. I have made a career out of arguing that we shouldn't stretch and expand the criminal law. I'm not going to change it because you think these are abnormal times. When Thomas Jefferson told the Justice Department that they had to prosecute Aaron Burr, and that he was going to have the chief justice impeached unless he found Aaron Burr guilty, those were special times too.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Thinking, Justice, Political

  Source: www.wbur.org

• That's when civil liberty suffers - when we think special times justify the diminution of civil liberties. And I'm not going to accept that.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Thinking, Suffering, Special

  Source: www.wbur.org

• African-Americans are as fair as any other group, but they bring their life experiences to bear as just as whites bring their experiences to bear.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Life Experience

  Source: www.wbur.org

• When it comes to partisan politics, everyone is a hypocrite. And all they care about is whether it hurts or helps them ... Is it good or bad for the Democrats? Is it good or bad for the Republicans? Is it good or bad for Jews, or good or bad for blacks, or is it good or bad for women? Is it good or bad for men? Is it good or bad for gays? That's the way people think about issues today. There is very little discussion of enduring principles.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Hurt, Hypocrite, Gay

  Source: www.wbur.org

• I am a man of principle. I will stick by my principles. I will tell the truth no matter where the chips fall.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Fall, Men, Telling The Truth

  Source: www.wbur.org

• I will continue to fight for justice, fairness, and constitutional rights until my dying breath.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Fighting, Justice, Dying

  Source: www.psychologytoday.com

• I am attacked equally by the hard right and the hard left for expressing what they regard as politically incorrect views. I thrive on such controversy and welcome it. It only encourages me to speak out more. I have not been affected by attacks on me for defending freedom of speech and due process.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Freedom Of Speech, Welcome, Speak

  Source: www.psychologytoday.com

• I'd require that every university, public or private, be governed by the constitutional standards regarding freedom of expression and due process. There is no reason for treating adult college students any differently in the university setting than in the outside world.

  Alan Dershowitz

  College, World, Students

  Source: www.psychologytoday.com

• We live in an age where there is both more expression and more self-censorship than existed even a decade ago. Alas, laws have immunized internet carriers from many of the usual rules that govern public dialogue. Rights must always stay ahead of technology to assure that constitutional protections apply to all forms of communication.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Communication, Technology, Age

  Source: www.psychologytoday.com

• I fear that the impact of university censorship and university denial of due process will be to mis-educate a generation of students away from core values of civil liberties and constitutional safeguards. Students who have been led to believe by university administrators and faculty that censorship and denial of due process are acceptable norms will be more susceptible to accepting those norms in their post-university lives. That would be a tragedy for America.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Believe, Tragedy, Liberty

  Source: www.psychologytoday.com

• In our criminal justice system, we say it's better for 10 guilty people to go free than for even one innocent person to be wrongly convicted.

  Alan Dershowitz

  People, Justice, Guilty

  Source: www.psychologytoday.com

• When the Jews were being persecuted by the Nazis in 1944 we passed the War Refugee Act, which focused on rescuing Jews, a religious group. But if the religious group is the subject of the persecution based on their religion, it's perfectly OK for a First Amendment-bound society to emphasize their rescue, just as it is perfectly OK to emphasize the fact that many, if not all of the perpetrators of Islamic terrorism, come from countries with a history of supporting terrorism.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Country, Religious, War

  Source: www.npr.org

• It's a new phenomenon in America that states can now sue the national government and become a kind of check and balance on the excesses of the federal government.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Government, America, Balance

  Source: www.npr.org